Chapter 03
"I don't know what is going on," Mail hummed, crossing his arms over his chest and giving both Mello and Matt a cold stare down. "But I am not your guard and I am most certainly not you."
"Actually…" Matt said nervously, as if explaining plans to a highly explosive bomb. "You kind of are. You see, there are different realities-"
"I know about different realities," Mail stopped him. "But I am most certainly not you. The last time I checked I didn't have a tail."
"I don't have a tail either!" Matt protested.
"Actually," Piper chirped, pointing behind him. "You kind of do."
"What!?" Reaching around, Matt grabbed blindly at his back end. He pulled a furry red tail around himself in horror. After a moment of thought he lifted up his free hand and placed it on top of his head, feeling a fuzzy ear twitch beneath his finger tips. "Oh my god!" He screamed dramatically.
"Why do you have a tail?" Mello asked.
"How should I know?!" Matt screeched.
"Do Shura not have tails where you come from?" Mail asked.
"They don't have Shura where they come from," Next explained.
"No Shura?" Mail sounded shocked.
"No Sylph, either," Next confirmed.
"What about Sprites?" Mail asked.
Next shook his head. "None of those, either."
"What a boring place," Mail hummed.
"Yeah, well…" Matt mumbled, tugging on his tail. "At least we have video games!"
"What is a… video game?" Mail asked. Matt looked at him in horror.
"I think…" Mello breathed. "That's the weirdest thing I've ever seen in my life."
Next turned to Mail, a worried look on his face. "Is Mihael back at the castle…?"
"Actually," Mail hummed, glancing behind himself before turning back to Next. "He went to see the white one."
Next gasped, throwing a hand over his mouth. "The white one!? Why!?"
"He thought the reason for your disappearance was the white one," Mail explained. "You disappeared so suddenly in a flash of magic, Mihael thought it could only be a trick by a mirror king."
"The 'white one'?" Mello asked.
"That's what they call their Mirror king," Matt explained.
"You should know who the white one is," Mail told Mello with an unamused expression. "You are the dark one, after all."
"I'm what now?" Mello asked, lifting an eyebrow. "The 'dark one'?"
"Correct," Mail answered.
"You have me mistaken for someone else," the blonde told him. "I've never been to this world and I've never met this 'white one'. I'm certainly not some 'dark one', whatever that means."
Mail shook his head. "I know for a fact you are the dark one. We've met before."
"We've met?" Mello asked.
The guard nodded. "When you were questing to get the ten mirror powers… you fell into a river after a bridge broke, over in Marihanda. I was there on business when I saw you wash up along side the river. I took you to the closest town."
"I've never been here!" Mello protested.
"You have," Mail told him.
"Okay!" Matt laughed nervously, stepping between the two. "I think you have this Mello confused with a different Mello. There are infinite numbers of them out there, after all!" He grinned, obviously forcing it.
"You are no better a liar then I," Mail told him.
"Told you I'm you," Matt muttered.
--
"Mihael's guard has found Next," Near stated, curling a lock of hair from the doll he held in his hand around his fingertips. "They're headed back to your castle now. There's an 87 chance they'll come here so you might as well wait."
Mihael lifted an eyebrow but said nothing, instead taking a sip of the drink in front of him.
Near grabbed hold of the doll's head and pulled until it ripped apart. He then picked up another toy, this one more of a soldier, and placed the doll's head onto the already decapitated neck. "There is a few men from Marihanda following them."
The other man nearly choked on his drink. "What!? Why didn't you tell me!?"
"I just did," Near deadpanned.
Mihael sent a glare his direction and stood. "Please excuse me-"
"They will not attack," Near told him, motioning for him to sit back down. "They are planning to follow Next. He will be safe with Mail around."
"I do trust Mail," Mihael began. "But-"
"Stay," Near ordered.
The king glared. "I don't take orders."
Near lifted his eyes to him. "Stay?" This time it was a request.
"Why?"
"…Please?"
"But, Next-"
"Will be fine with Mail."
Mihael shook his head. "I'm leaving." And with those words he turned and left the room.
Near sighed, curling his fingers through the mutated doll's hair. He then discarded the toy carelessly on the ground and stood, approaching the window.
"My apologies, Near," a voice from the bed stated, followed by the sound of shifting.
"L is not real," Near informed, not bothering to turn around.
"I know," L responded, his thumb at his lips. "I am merely a figment of your delusional mind here to give you words of advice that you already know but are too stubborn to listen to."
"That would be all advice," Near hummed, reaching out to open up the window.
Although he wasn't facing the man, he knew L was smiling. He wasn't sure if it was because L was just a part of his mind, or because he knew the man so well. Either way, it was that annoying smile that said, 'Yes, I know.' Near hated it almost as much as he missed it.
"You don't know everything," L told him.
"L is right," Near whispered, watching quietly as a lone horse rode off down the mountain trail. "L is only telling me things I already know."
--
"We got him home," Mello stated as they entered the courtyard, crossing his arms over his chest. "Mission accomplished, all that jazz. So lets go, I think I left the oven on."
Matt gave him an annoyed look. "You get thrown into an interesting new place and you want to go home? You don't want to figure out the mysteries of this world or maybe who this white one is, all that?"
"I deal with mysteries every day," Mello told him, obviously annoyed. "And I don't give a shit about this 'white one'." Matt snorted in disapproval. "This little prank – which I admit, might not be a prank – is over and done with, so lets just go home."
"Aww," Piper whined. "So soon?"
"Your mom would kill me if I got you caught up in finding Near and reuniting them," Matt whispered to her.
Piper crossed her arms over her chest. "Mom is going to kill you anyway once she finds out you erased his memories."
"Ha!" Matt laughed. "She already knows."
Piper gaped at him. "What!? And she didn't kick your ass for it!?"
"She knew that I had to do it!" Matt snapped. "She knew what was at stake!"
"You're such a dumb ass!" The little girl informed him. "You lost your mirror king powers a year ago, that's a whole year you had to bring him back here to Near but you just kept him to yourself!"
"I had my reasons!" Matt protested.
"Jealousy is not a reason!" Piper snapped.
"Ahem," Mail interrupted, getting both of their attention. "I'm not sure what exactly the two of you are talking about, but you may want to decide if you wish to stay or go. Now that Next has returned it is up to him if you are able to stay in this castle or not, considering he is the Prince."
"Told you he's a prince," Piper sing-songed, sticking her tongue out at Mello.
"You never said a damn thing!" Mello yelled.
"Of course you can stay," Next informed with a smile. "You returned me to my home, after all- I owe it to you."
"We're not staying," Mello informed.
"We'd love to stay," Matt contradicted in the same breath.
The two of them had a stare down, but Next was too busy telling a nearby maid to prepare three rooms.
--
The rain was as relentless as it normally was in this area, just as it had been on his way to the castle. But Mihael didn't care, wasn't concerned with the weather or how cold it was. After all, a little water and low temperatures weren't going to do much harm to him or his horse.
Marihanda had spies after Next. It was both a good and a bad thing- the good part being that Next had somehow managed to find his way back to this reality, the bad of course being that his enemy nation had spies following his love. Their king was a low asshole, sending spies and possibly assassins after his enemies loved ones. It was insanity- Mihael would never do something so low… okay, so maybe he would, but he hadn't yet and that was what mattered.
Not that Mail would let him. Damn bastard and his sense of justice, or some shit.
But hey, the man was his best friend and the best guard in the country, so he couldn't really complain. He also didn't know anyone else who would put up with him… except for Next, of course.
Next… so he was alright, if what the White One said was true. He wasn't sure he could trust the White One – after all, it was extremely easy to pass off Next's disappearance as something else and claim to be completely innocent when you barely have enough emotion to ever show that you're lying. Mihael had to wonder if the Dark One knew the White One well enough to know if he was lying? Whatever, no one had heard from the Dark One since the defeat of Holand two years ago and it wasn't like Mihael cared anyway.
Although it made sense as to why the White One built himself a castle made of ice and disappeared into it.
The White One had no reason to lie, though, so Mihael was willing to give him the benefit of a doubt. Despite being cast into Marihanda, the White One did not actually come from either country and therefore was not an enemy; then again, it meant he was not an ally either. But the White One had refused to take part in the war, so it was doubtful he would suddenly rage an attack against Mihael.
Besides, wouldn't him attacking Next be like him attacking himself? He doubted that the White One hated himself that much.
Although they were technically the same person, Next and 'Near' were not alike. If it wasn't their difference in appearance it was the lack of emotion that Near had next to Next's not exactly emotional but still somewhat existent state. Next was sweet and caring, while Near was distant and cold… not to mention Next was about forty times more attractive, but that was probably because Mihael didn't go for the 'oh my god I'm so underweight I almost don't exist' type.
Maybe if his mind had been in the right place he would have had enough in him to care about the state of the Mirror King, but at the moment all he wanted to do was get home to Next.
Riding the long journey back to his castle gave him a lot of time to think and usually when his mind was wandering it somehow found its way back to a certain longhaired albino with bright blue eyes. Then again, it shouldn't have been surprising, considering – this time his wandering mind brought him back to the first time they'd met, back when they were still barely teenagers.
--
He couldn't remember how Next had gotten to the castle, just that he wasn't there one day and the next he was. He was kind of a hard person to not notice, so Mihael was pretty sure he would have noticed him had he been there before. A small little figure sitting at the other end of the rather large table, gathered around with all of the other birthday party guests – looking like he was so nervous he was going to throw up.
"Father," Mihael had addressed the King, catching his attention away from his mother for a moment. He motioned to the young man at the other end of the table. "Who is that?"
Mihael's father looked at Next for a few moments before he gave a shrug. "Probably the child of one of the generals."
"But he's never been here before," Mihael told him.
"You probably just didn't notice him," his mother stated, giving the boy a once over. "Oh my, he looks starved to death. Poor thing. And Albino, too- I've heard they're very sickly." She then went on about something else, continuing the conversation with his father.
Mihael spent the rest of the night staring at Next, who spent the rest of the night staring at his plate.
When the party was over, Mihael spent at least an hour hunting down the strange new boy. When he finally managed to find him, Next was sitting in the garden, curled up on a bench, half asleep.
"Hi," Mello greeted, catching the boy off guard.
Next had stared at him in complete shock. It was a look Mihael was pretty used to – he liked to spent a lot of his time in town and when he talked to people they usually got that look on their faces. It wasn't everyday a crown prince decided to grace your presence, even if you did eat dinner at the same (extremely long) table as him.
"I'm Mihael," he introduced, holding out a hand.
After a few tries, Next finally managed to breath out his name, carefully taking Mihael's hand in his own.
A spark flew through them, making Mihael see white for a few moments. It was a sensation he'd never felt before but he had heard his mother talking about it once or twice when he was younger.
One day you'll meet your soul mate, Mihael. A nice girl or maybe even a boy. You have to be open, it could be anyone. But you'll know them when you see them and when you touch them your vision will go white. You'll just know.
"Are you," Mihael breathed, trying to clear his head. "The son of a general, or a Prince? Something like that… I saw you eating at the table, you didn't really touch your food. You looked kind of nervous. I've never seen you before."
Next just stared at him, as if afraid to speak. After a few moments Mihael cleared his throat and the albino boy finally spoke.
"No," he said. That was it. Just 'no'.
"No?" Mihael asked.
Next looked away nervously. "Um… no, I'm not the son of a general, or a prince."
"Oh…" it was then that Mihael realized he was still holding Next's hand. Trying to ignore the embarrassed flush on his cheeks, he let go of the other's handand sat beside him. "Well, its nice to meet you, Next. How old are you?"
"Twelve," Next informed.
"I just turned fifteen today," Mihael said, almost proudly.
"Happy birthday," Next said.
"Thanks," Mihael breathed.
They spent the rest of the night in comfortable silence, at least on Mihael's part. After a while Next opened up and relaxed next to him.
The next day when all of the other General's kids left for their own homes and all of the other Kings and Princes went home, Next stayed. When Mihael asked why he didn't go home, Next explained that he didn't have a home to go to. He didn't say any more then that and Mihael didn't ask, figuring it was his own business and he shouldn't pry. His father let Next stay in the castle without putting up a fight… then again, his father always had been a kind and caring King.
Mihael talked to his mother the next morning about the spark, although he didn't tell her who he'd felt it with.
"Remember when you told me I'd see white when I touched my soul mate?" He asked after getting her attention in her reading room.
She smiled widely. "You've found a lucky girl!"
"Boy," he told her. Her smile didn't falter and she motioned for him to sit. "I touched his hand and this spark flew through me… my vision went white. I feel drawn toward him."
"Get a match keeper to confirm it," she told him, still smiling. "It can only get better from here, darling."
Sure enough, a match keeper confirmed it the next day. It took a bit of sneaking around, but the young match keeper was always willing to get into trouble with him.
"Yeah," she confirmed. "That kid is your soul mate… although your soul line is weird."
"How so?" Mihael asked.
"It's broken," she told him. "Torn up. It's kinda weird, but don't let that stop you! He's cute, too. A little skinny, though. Looks like he's been through hell."
Mihael was barely fifteen at the time, he wasn't sure he wanted to peruse an absolute relationship with a boy he barely knew. But when he approached Next for a friendship it was almost impossible to stop it from growing it something more emotionally. He didn't approach the younger man for a sexual relationship, though – he wasn't ready for that sort of thing, even if Next hadn't been way too young.
It was about the time he turned nineteen that he finally confessed to Next how he felt.
He'd been insanely nervous that day, simply because he had finally agreed to tell the albino. Mail had talked him into it – well, more like smacked him over the back of the head every time he made an excuse.
Today was better then any other day, considering it was Next's decided birthday – the albino said he couldn't remember when his birthday was (which would have seemed suspicious had Mihael not milked out of him that he was an orphan years ago), so they had decided upon a date. The twenty forth day of the ninth month – that's what he had chosen, specifically. It was an odd day, Mihael had to admit, but he didn't question Next's choice.
He spent a while searching for his albino friend only to find the boy in the bathing room, submerged in the large pool of water, relaxing. Mihael took a seat beside the bath, back facing it – he'd done thins hundreds of times, it was a normal thing for them.
"Next," he addressed, trying to catch the boy's attention.
Next pulled his head out of the water so his ears weren't blocked. "Hm?"
"There's something I have to tell you."
Next shifted in the water and from the sound Mihael could make out he was turning to face the blonde. He turned around too, unable to see much more then Next's upper half, since the albino was pressed against the side of the tub.
"I… Uh…" Mihael wasn't sure how to say it. While he had planned to just take the direct approach and come right out with it, his voice wasn't listening to the plans. "I, uh… y-you see… I… um…" Stupid voice, why couldn't it listen to the plan!? It wasn't that hard to say, just three little words! Simple as pie! I. Love. You. "I… I uh… I-I…"
"'Am in love with you'?" Next offered.
Mihael breathed a sigh of relief. "Yes. Wait-" He stared at Next in shock. "How did you- When did you-"
Next smiled coyly. "I have known for a while."
"B-But… how…?"
The albino turned around, smirking deviously over his shoulder. "Has Mihael forgotten that soul mates can read each other's minds?"
The blonde tried to ignore his pink cheeks. "But… that's only if they've- … and we haven't…"
"If they've had sex it happens, or if they've been around each other long enough. I've known Mihael for years."
"So you've been able to read my mind for a while now…?"
"Almost two months."
"How come I can't read yours…?"
"Mihael hasn't tried."
The blonde sighed in a mix of confusion and relief. "S-So, um… well…"
Next smiled. "Mihael is usually so good with words, I am surprised and a bit flattered to see him so twisted up over me."
Mihael laughed nervously. "Yeah, well… words I am good with, but affairs of the heart not so much."
Lifting a hand, Next twisted a lock of his long hair around his finger tip, still watching Mihael carefully. "Mihael does not have to worry," he informed. "Because I feel the same way toward Mihael that Mihael feels toward me."
Smiling, the blonde asked, "Really?"
"Really," Next confirmed with a nod.
That day had been great and everyday after that had been better. Sure, they'd had their differences and fights- but every couple did, it was unhealthy not to. But Mihael couldn't remember a moment when he could say he didn't love the albino, or even a moment when he came close to doubting it.
It wasn't until a year or so later that they slept together. Mihael had expected their bond to strengthen but he could still feel nothing from his end – Next could read his mind, tell his emotions, even locate him from a town away, yet Mihael could do none of it. He even went so far as to ask another Match Keeper to confirm it but there was no mistaking that they were soul mates.
He didn't let it bother him, however, or at least he tried not to. He and Next cared for each other and that was what mattered.
Still, at times like this, when he didn't know where Next was or if he was alright, it bothered him. Especially since The White One could have easily told him Next was alive and back in their reality just to send him into a trap.
But it wasn't healthy to always worry. So, as he stopped for the night, he tried to let all of the frustration out and just think about how nice it was going to be to see Next again.
--
"So now we need to figure out what we're going to do," Matt stated, after they'd had a good (but extremely strange) meal and some time to rest.
"There's nothing to figure out," Mello informed sternly. "We're going back home and I'm going to pretend this never happened."
"Lets weigh our options," Matt went on, holding up both hands. "One, we could go home… two, we could stay. What are the pros and cons?"
"I'm not suggesting, Matt," Mello hissed. "We're going home."
"At least stay the night?" Next asked. "I'll make sure you get the royal treatment."
"Oh, royal treatment," Matt smiled.
"Piper, take us home, now," Mello ordered.
"Royal treatment," she responded with a grin.
Mello groaned. "Are you all against me?"
"Yep," Mail told him.
"I hate you all," Mello informed.
Next stood. "So it's settled! You're staying. Wonderful. I'm sure Mihael would love to meet you, when he gets back- if he gets back…" he looked toward Mail. "Perhaps I should go retrieve him?"
"I will go," Mail informed.
"To see the white one?" Next asked. "Isn't that a dangerous route? We can't afford to lose Mail…"
"And we can't afford to lose you even more so, my prince," Mail responded. "Please, stay here. We've only just retrieved you."
"Alright," Next sighed.
"I will head out tomorrow," Mail promised. "For now it is late. You should all get some rest."
"Actually," Matt hummed. "I smell like airplane. Mind if I take a bath?"
"That's a wonderful idea!" Next chirped. "A bath sounds appealing right about now."
Matt cleared his throat, ignoring his red face. "Wait… a bath… together?"
Next stared at him. "Does Matt have a problem with that? We have quite a large bath…"
Mello grinned at the redhead teasingly. "Yeah… does Matt have a problem with that?"
Matt glared at him. "No!" The ears on top of his head laid flat and his tail drooped.
"Your body language tells me differently," Mello laughed, lifting up and tugging on one of the ears.
"Shut up!" Matt snapped. "This place is fucked up."
--
Next had been right about the bath – it was the size of a damn pool, although only about waist deep. It was the kind of bath like they'd have at a bathhouse, the one you shower in first then just relax in the heated water.
Matt was off sulking in a corner, poking at his new ears and trying to ignore the tail. Mello was leaning against the edge, letting his mind wander, when he heard Next get into the water.
When he saw the albino, it happened. His mind flooded with images, words, sounds that he didn't understand. He saw pale, smooth skin – soft white hair, not long but short, curled around thin fingers with perfectly trimmed fingernails. Long eyelashes, a much too small waist, small feet, a cute little nose – small details, yet he couldn't make out the big picture.
'You can stop hiding, now.' The sound of water, someone moving in it. 'It's not like I haven't seen you naked before.'
'I was five, and Matt almost killed me that day.'
A memory. A pool… L taking him to a pool. Hadn't he gone alone? No, there was another little boy there – but it wasn't Matt. Matt wasn't there. A young boy whose name and face he couldn't remember… he'd pushed him in. That little boy had hit his head and they'd gone to the hospital. L had given him a talking to…
N-No… that couldn't be right. He'd gone alone… alone…
'Is that an admission of loneliness I hear from the great Ne-'
'Mello sounds so surprised.'
'You always liked being alone.'
A little boy sitting alone in a playroom, putting together a puzzle – no, not just a puzzle… a blank puzzle, a completely white puzzle. White… that was all he could see when he thought of that little boy. White…
The touch of skin against skin. A whisper in his ear… soft breath hitching in pain as well as pleasure.
'Just sex, no romantic attachments, and not going to happen again.'
But it wasn't just sex… there were romantic attachments. He… loved him? No, that couldn't be – Mello had never loved anyone. The only person he'd cared for was L and only in a fatherly way… he liked Matt and the guy was a good friend but that was it. He'd never been in love… never…
I'm telling you man, that's love.
'I love you too, Ne-'
'Mello is lying!'
'Look at me. I'm the real deal.'
A push, a gentle shove through a hole in reality and he was back in his own world… but the boy hadn't come with. He'd wound up with Matt, just the two of them – the white boy was gone. Then there was nothing…
He'd forgotten something very important…
I wish Mello was here.
That boy's voice, there it was again – but this wasn't a memory. This was echoing in his ears.
Sorrow. It washed over him in waves. But it wasn't his own… it was connected to him through a long string, stretched over miles and miles. A second heart beat in unison with his own. A mind twisted around his own… a soul connected to his.
But all he could see was white.
I wish Mello was here…
"Mello!"
He was back in the bath and he felt sick. The sorrow came in uncontrollable waves until he finally figured out how to block it off. His vision started to clear and he saw Next and Matt looking at him with worried eyes.
"What happened?" Matt asked.
"We're staying," was Mello's response.