Dream of Mirror 02- Corners of Reality
Ice Puppet
This chapter is dedicated to Gakusangi, who was the reason I managed to work on this story.
authors notes: I decided to try and continue this story after a bout of insperation last night. I can't promise anything but I will try my best!
Chapter 07 - of Comas and memories
Mello yawned and stretched out, instinctively reaching for the other half of the large bed and, upon finding no one there, sitting up with a frown.
He found Near across the room, floating in that creepy way Sylphs did, in a 'thinking' pose. The Mirror King was obviously lost in thought although he glanced toward Mello when the blonde sat up.
"Mello is real, right?" He questioned.
Mello stared. "The fuck?" He asked.
"I know L is not real," Near explained, switching from a 'sitting' to a 'standing' position although he was still floating. He leaned back, stretching to get comfortable, before he motioned gracefully across the room to an empty chair. "I know L is not there. However, I see him as clearly as I see Mello and I hear him just as clearly, as well. I know L is not there but to me it feels as if he is. I am afraid Mello might not be real, as well."
"You're seeing things?" Mello questioned, not really liking the worried tone that his voice over took as he climbed out of bed and walked over (completely naked) to Near. "Is this about what Matt said? About how one person cannot completely handle all ten powers at once?"
"Mello is correct," Near confirmed with a nod.
"If you knew that, why didn't you just ask me to stay?" Mello asked, putting a hand on Near's cheek before he grabbed the albino's shoulders and shook him, roughly. "Damnit, you bastard! You always know how to drive me nuts, don't you!? Fuck, Near! I would have stayed if you had explained to me what was going on! You didn't have to do what you did!"
"I- Wanted- To- Make- Mello- Happy-" Near attempted to answer through the shakes, getting dizzy. When Mello stopped he put a hand to his head and attempted to not fall over. "I know Mello is real, now. When I dreamed of Mello he was never so cruel."
"The fuck I'm not cruel when you're being an idiot!" Mello snapped. "If you wanted to make me happy all you had to do was tell me the truth! I just wanted to be with you- I just want to be with you, Near! And god, do you have any idea how weird that sounds, coming from me, even after all these years?! Fuck, Near!" He groaned and threw his hands up, storming away from the Slyph dramatically. "You sacrificed all this shit for me, you made yourself crazy and what did I do? I forgot you!"
"It wasn't Mello's fault," Near reminded, placing a hand on Mello's shoulder. "Matt thought it was best- I thought it was best."
"You thought wrong," Mello informed.
"I do that sometimes, you know," Near told him with a small smile.
"Yeah, I'm starting to realize that," Mello said sarcastically. He then sighed and sat down on the bed, pulling his pants on. "I'm real, Near. I'm really here. You're not dreaming like you are with- wait, you're seeing L? What's he saying?"
"L is telling me things I already know," Near informed. "But I am too stubborn to listen to."
"Sounds like L," Mello hummed. "Why are you seeing him, of all people?"
"It's not just L," Near explained, moving back into a seated position. "It's also Yagami- Matsuda, Linder, Rester, Giovanni, Linda, Matt… Mello. But it is mostly L."
"Linda?"
"Linda. From when Linda was a child."
"Weird." Mello shook his head, before asking, "What's with the floating? I thought you hated that."
"It's comfortable," Near explained, looking down at himself. "And I have gotten used to it over the years."
"It's kind of creepy," Mello told him.
"Good," Near retorted.
Mello pulled on his shirt before asking, "Aside from the crazies, how have you been? I haven't really gotten a chance to ask since we kind of jumped at it after I got my memories back."
Near cleared his throat. "Well… These worlds are at war, I'm facing a crisis because with three of me here this world is slowly crumbling, I'm going 'crazy', as you said, and Holand is attempting to destroy the world, still."
Mello paled. "Didn't we kill Holand?"
"Did I forget to mention?" Near asked innocently. "She's from a different reality, so she can't die."
Mello glared at him. "Yes, you failed to mention that little detail, darling."
Near smiled somewhat sheepishly. "Woops."
"So the world is falling apart because You, Next, and Nate are all here," Mello began, ticking off the bad news on his fingers. "Holand is still around and she wants the world to fall apart- no doubt her plan is to get a jumper, go steal another Near from another reality and bring him here to cause this world to collapse- you're seeing people, and these countries are trying to blow each other up." He sighed and looked at Near. "Anything else you've failed to mention?"
Near hummed for a moment before offering, "I haven't been sleeping."
"You're turning into L," Mello commented.
"Also," Near went on. "I'm dying."
Mello paled. "What."
"These powers are killing my body," Near informed. "But since I can't die, they'll just continue to kill me until I fall into a coma and never awaken. I've already passed out a few times from them and each time I've fallen asleep for more and more time. A half hour, a hour, a few hours- it will be forever, eventually."
Mello jumped up and grabbed hold of him, eyes wide. "Don't tell me that! You need to find a way to get rid of these powers, Near, before they kill you!"
"I can't," Near explained. "I have to wait for the-"
"Fuck the new recruits!" Mello squeaked. "Near, I don't give a shit if you kill off an entire country to save yourself, just fucking do it! I can't lose you again!"
Near sighed and wrapped his arms around the blonde, pulling him into an awkward hug. "I can't do that."
"Why the hell not?!"
"These are my people and I am the people's Mirror King. I cannot sacrifice a single life to save my own, let alone ten of them. I have to wait, Mello. I can hold out that long, I am strong enough. I have to wait for the next in line to appear."
"How will you know?" Mello questioned, burring his face into Near's hair. "How will you know when they appear?"
"I have the mirrors to tell me," Near told him. "They will appear in the mirror when they are ready to gain their power. I check them three times a day."
"Fate hates me, I think," Mello commented, holding Near tightly.
"I think so too," Near agreed.
--
"Mihael!"
Mihael practically threw himself off of his horse and rushed to the front of the castle only to collide half way with a smaller body. Next crushed their lips together in a sweet kiss, pulling him close enough that it actually hurt. But the blonde didn't care at that moment- he was too busy enjoying the warmth of his love and the feeling of having him in his arms once more.
"Mihael will never believe what happened to me," Next was saying the next moment, face buried against Mihael's shoulder as he closed his eyes and inhaled the blonde's sent. "I went to another universe and I met another version of Mihaeland another version of Mail and-"
"I don't care," Mihael was rather blunt. "I'm just so glad that you're back that I don't even care."
Next smiled and kissed him again.
"Come," the albino said, taking his hand. "Let us get settled and Mihael can tell me all about the trip to see the mirror king- I want to hear all about it!"
"Less talking," Mihael responded, pulling the albino along as one of the stable boys grabbed his horse. "More kissing."
--
"You are so dead, mister."
Matt laughed nervously as his ears flattened and his tail lowered. Mello advanced quickly and he yelped, jumping a few feet back.
"Come on, I thought we settled this already!" Matt cried, throwing his arms up. "You and Near made nicey nicey- and trust me, I could hear you last night, boy is loud!- so you shouldn't be mad at me anymore!"
"I'm still mad at both of you!" Mello protested.
Just before he was about to advance and beat the shit out of his furry friend, Raito rushed into the room with a scared look on his face.
"Master Mello!" He cried, eyes wide.
"What is it, Yagami?" Mello asked, lowering his fist from its place right in front of Matt's face.
"Near is unconscious! I fear he has fallen into another coma!"
Mello paled and followed the brunette from the room, leaving a scared Matt to wonder what the fuck was going on.