Dream of Mirror 2; Corners of Reality
Ice-Puppet
Chapter 10 – Old friends
"Good, Kayen is already here," Near commented after he had awoken. "That means we only need to find nine others."
"Finding the old mirror kings?" Kayen questioned with a weak smile. Near nodded. "I would do the same, were I in your position."
Near attempted to get out of bed only to topple over weakly. Mello helped him back up with a laugh, only to laugh more as the albino attempted to glare at him. "What? You topple over like a domino, it was funny!"
"Mello is cruel," Near muttered, pushing Mello's hands off of him and switching to a floating position. He then turned to Kayen. "Does Kayen know where any of the other mirror kings are?"
"Most of them are where they were before," Kayen informed. "However Q moved in with Red and Kamariya moved to this continent to try and avoid the war."
"Can you remember all those places and jump to them, Near?" Mello questioned.
"I can," Kayen reminded.
Mello glanced toward him. "Oh, yeah."
"That's good," Near hummed, explaining when Mello glanced at him. "Because I don't know how to jump."
Mello stared. "You don't?"
"I didn't even know I could until I'd met Piper," Near explained. "Nate doesn't know how, either."
"Its not something I can teach," Kayen frowned. "Its just something that has to come naturally, like when Next first jumped here."
"You knew about Next coming here?" Mello asked.
"I did have the power of night, you know," Kayen sneered.
"Okay, okay! No need to get all snappy," Mello protested as he held up his hands in defense. "Sheesh, you've got a temper, haven't you, kid?"
"In the time that you were gone, people began to disappear," Kayen explained, looking downward. "I lost someone important to me. One moment they were there, the next they were gone."
"Kayen never told me that," Near pointed out, making Mello believe the two albinos had kept in touch. Birds of a feather and all that.
"I don't like talking about it," Kayen informed by way of explanation before he shook his head. "Let's go-"
"Wait!"
Obi rushed in, looking rather worn out.
"I'm coming with you!" She protested.
"Obi-" Near tried in a voice that a father might use on their child. It kind of scared Mello.
"Kayen can't jump twelve other people at once!" Obi cried. "And you don't know how to jump, Near! You're going to need me!"
"She's got a point," Kayen mused, a small smile on his face when Near sent him a glare that couldn't scare a kitten.
"Fine," Near agreed, though it was obvious he didn't like it.
"Lets go," Kayen said again.
They all grabbed hands and were off in a flash.
--
Apparently Kenny was the first on the list because they found themselves outside of a cabin in the middle of a forest. Kayen and Obi stood easily while Mello and Near rubbed their bums, which they had landed on.
"I don't think I'll ever get used to that," Mello commented off-handedly.
Kayen approached the door and went to knock onto to have it fly open and a sharp object on the end of a long poll stuck in his face.
"Oh, its you guys," Kenny commented, removing the spear from a very uncomfortable Kayen's face. "I saw a flash of light and thought maybe the thieves were setting off fire works or something. I went out here to kick their asses!"
"Hello to you too, Kenny," Kayen muttered, rubbing his upper arm.
Kenny stared at him for a few seconds before he threw up his arms and tackled the poor Albino. "Kayen!"
"Eek!" Kayen squeaked, trying to get out of the man's hold.
Kenny then noticed Near and Kayen was forgotten as he threw his arms around Near, lifting the small Slyph off the ground, into his arms. "Near!"
"Hello, Kenny," Near strained, his voice riddled with the personal space he was being deprived of.
"Mello!" Kenny suddenly yelled as he dropped Near and attempted to hug Mello, only to be punched in the face. "Ow! Still a bitchy asshole, I see." Mello snorted in response and Kenny turned to the last member of their little group, who smiled up at him widely. "Um… little girl whom I've never met!" he hugged her anyway, twirling her around quickly before dropping her back onto the ground. "Yay! What brings you all out to my side of the woods?"
"Look at the sky," Kayen explained, pointing upward.
Kenny glanced up and tilted his head. "Well that's weird."
"Near left this reality," Kayen explained.
Kenny paled. "What?"
"It was Next's fault," Mello explained.
"Who is Next? He's got a funny name," Kenny hummed.
"He's Near from a different reality," Obi piped up.
"Near from this reality?" Kenny asked.
"No, that's my daddy," Obi explained. "Next is from a different reality, just like Near is."
"So that explains the disappearances!" Kenny whooped, before frowning. "Well, shit. This is no good. So that explains why you're here- you're gathering all the old mirror kings, right? Yeah. I knew it!- I guess that means we'd better get going!"
Kayen nodded and placed a hand on Kenny's shoulder. The rest of the group joined hands and they disappeared.
--
Seishi's house brought back bad memories of flying and Mello shuttered, thinking that, although he hated it, jumping was a much better way to travel.
"Is Seish' home?" Kenny was asking Seishi's husband at the door and the man nodded, disappearing back into the house, calling out the girly man's name. A moment or so later Seishi was in the doorway.
"I was wondering when you were going to show up," he commented, obviously worse for the wear with worry. He grabbed his coat and hopped out of the house. "Lets go."
"Hello to you too," Kenny muttered as he followed Seishi from the house.
--
Fuoco's had been empty, which had been explained easily enough when they visited Glace's.
"Of course we'll help you!" Glace giggled as he pushed his brother forward. "Anything to help a friend! Right big brother?"
"Whatever," Fuoco muttered.
--
LiSen smiled warmly as he answered his door. "I was expecting you. I don't suppose we have time for tea?"
"'Fraid not, Li," Kenny frowned, obviously wanting to take him up on the offer.
"That's too bad," LiSen hummed. "Oh well, perhaps after we save the world, yes?"
"Yeah, we'll take a rain check until then," Kenny agreed before walking back toward the group, LiSen in tow.
"Hello Near," LiSen greeted with a friendly smile, making Mello flush with jealousy. Near returned the smile with a nod. "Mello." The blonde merely turned his face away angrily. "Kayen." Kayen waved. "Fuoco, Glace." Fuoco glared and Glace giggled. "Seishi." Seishi smiled and waved happily.
"Too many people to jump," Kayen told Obi. "You can follow my trail, right?"
"I wouldn't be here if I couldn't," she replied. She took hold of Near and the two of them stood back as the larger group jumped first. They then followed, only a few moments behind.
--
It was a good thing that Quarrel and Red had decided to move in together, because it meant one less person to hunt down.
However it was hard for the group to understand how two very different people could get together.
For example, when they approached the front door they could see through the windows that Red was storming around the house, throwing some sort of hissy fit about something. Quarrel, in contrast, was seated on the sofa looking rather bored as he read a book silently, completely ignoring Red's tantrum.
"Are we sure we want to interrupt them?" Kenny asked. "This is kind of amusing."
"Just do it, please, Kenny," Seishi said in a worried voice.
Kenny nodded and knocked, only to knock harder and finally kick the door as the two occupants couldn't hear him over Red's screaming.
"What do you want!?" Red yelled as he threw the door open, Quarrel looking up from his book with disinterest. "Oh- I was wondering when you guys would show up. God, what were we, last on your list!? I feel important, Kayen!"
"Kamariya is last on my list," Kayen informed.
"Good," Quarrel stated as he stepped out past Red, grabbing his coat.
"Whatever," Red muttered in frustration as he followed Quarrel out toward the group.
"Hello, Near," Quarrel greeted calmly, reminding Mello of what Near used to be like, way back when. "You have come far from the first time we met."
Near wasn't sure what to say, so he didn't say anything.
--
As Kayen had said, Kamariya was last on his list. But, before her, came Arret.
Arret didn't say anything as he answered the door. Just grabbed his jacket and walked outside, standing amongst the smaller group, looking rather blank. Kenny muttered, "Nice to see you too," as he followed Arret away from his front door.
--
Kamariya glanced at Kenny in distaste as she answered the front door before sighing. "This is entirely useless." She closed the door behind herself none-the-less and followed them outside.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Ka," Kenny laughed, following behind her.
--
It took two trips, but eventually they got all of the people back to Near's ice castle. Pretty soon the ten kings and Near were gathering around the ten mirrors in a circle, Near standing in the middle of them.
"To be honest," Kamariya was the first to speak after a few moments of silence. "We've never attempted anything like this. In fact, I don't know of any Mirror King that has- especially not a retired one."
"There's a first time for everything," Kenny piped up.
"Lets just try it and see where it gets us," Seishi said with a warm smile.
They all kneeled before their respective mirrors and Near kneeled as well.
"You might want to leave," Near told Mello, who nodded although defiantly and took Obi from the room.
He stood just outside the doorway and watched, however. Obi returned to Linda to let her mother know she was alright.
The ten mirrors began to glow, one at a time. Near looked worse for the wear as the mirrors relied on him for his power, only able to suck a little bit from the previous mirror kings. The previous kings cast the correct spells while the mirrors stole Near's power- they had to be cast in unison and Near couldn't cast ten spells at once, it was impossible. Mello watched in awe as ten lights shot up from the circle, before they all merged into one. The top of the ice castle was destroyed and chunks of ice fell around the eleven people, only to disappear before they hit the ground or any of the people.
Near let out a small cry of pain, but attempted to stifle it and continued to hang on as the magic coursed through him. If he were anyone else, Mello was sure that what they were doing would kill him. One person wasn't meant to have all ten powers, after all.
The glowing light hit the sky and began to suck the blackness into itself. The glow began to turn an inky color before it turned completely black and Near cried out in pain, once more.
This time he didn't stop screaming.
The ten previous kings began to falter a bit as the last of the blackness was sucked into their mirrors. The light died down as Kayen fainted, but the sky was now clear of the shadow that had previously overcome it. The rest of the kings fell backward and Near flopped to the ground, unconscious.
Mello rushed over and pulled the albino into his arms only to see that Near's eyes were open and completely black- not a single spot of white could be seen in their depths.
"What the hell!?" He snapped toward Kamariya.
"He took the chaos into himself," she explained, her voice racked with weakness.
"He did what!?" Mello screeched. "I thought that black shit was going into the mirrors! You're telling me it was going into Near!?"
"Yes," Kenny mumbled weakly.
"Fuck!" Mello shrieked, lifting Near into his arms and carrying the albino from the room without another word to the ten kings. He felt betrayed- why were these bastards (not to mention Near) always keeping things from him!?
He was always out of the loop!
As he approached Near's room he passed Mello, who fell into step behind him upon spotting an unconscious Near in his arms.
"You knew he was going to do this too, didn't you!?" Mello snapped to the redhead s he laid Near down on the large bed.
"No," Matt answered honestly. "I didn't think he could clear the sky of that shit- I thought it was hopeless. Never in a million years did I imagine he would take that shit on himself."
"What is going to happen to him?" Mello asked.
Matt shook his head. "I don't know, Mel. But it can't be good. He pretty much just took the chaos that was destroying this reality into his own body- whatever happens to him, I don't think he's going to survive it."
"Damnit Near, you arrogant bastard!" Mello snapped, grabbing the albino's shoulders and shaking them. "Why are you always doing this!? You have me now to help you out, you idiot! You don't have to do this alone anymore! I can't die either, I could have taken on this shit as well! You- you- dumb-… god, I hate you so much…" he dropped Near and flopped on top of him, burring his face into Near's chest with a defeated sigh. Mello felt tears well up in his eyes but he quickly brushed them away. "For a genius you're not very fucking smart, Near."
"If you were in his place," Matt commented. "You would have done the same thing, Mello."
"Shut the fuck up, Matt."
Matt sighed. "At least he saved this reality?"
"At what cost?" Mello snapped before he sighed and climbed into the bed, curling up next to Near. After a few moments he questioned, "Where is Next?"
"He went back to the castle to see if Mihael was alright," Matt informed. "I haven't heard from him since he brought Kayen here and that was hours ago."
Mello frowned.
--
"Mihael!? Mihael, are you here!? Mihael!" Next was frantic. The castle was falling to ruins and although the sky had cleared of that disgusting darkness, he couldn't find Mihael anywhere! He had been looking for hours and he hadn't found a single person, let alone the person he wanted to find the most.
"-ext?" He heard in the distance. Next rushed into the room the voice had come from, pushing aside some crumbled walls as best he could to find Mail lying beneath of them, his body crushed and broken.
"Mail!" Next cried, his eyes welling with tears.
"'Ext," Mail mumbled, his voice riddled with pain. He winced sharply as he attempted to speak.
"Don't talk!" Next cried. "I'll go find help, I'll go find a healer-"
"'hael," Mail tried, coughing weakly.
"Mihael?" Next stopped the jump he was about to make and looked down at Mail with wide eyes. "What about Mihael? Where is he, Mail!? Do you know!?"
Mail turned his head and nodded off to the side, toward a group of fallen debrees. "'As 'ith m'," he mumbled, wincing once more. "'all 'ell."
Next wasn't listening anymore, rushing over to the pile and attempting to push some of the rubble away. When he wasn't able to do it he finally settled for jumping the pieces of the building away.
That was, until he spotted a prone hand. He then shoved the rest of the smaller pieces off and stared down at Mihael in shock.
He wasn't breathing.
Next gathered the man into his arms and checked his pulse only to find nothing, absolutely nothing.
Mail closed his eyes and listened to Next's cries as he held his dead lover in his arms. They were the last sounds he heard.