The Perfect World

Chapter 8

"Your eyes?" You ask. "Did he take those too?"

"Yes, sir," The butterfly says. "And hidden them."

"Find our eyes, and our souls could be freed," The top hat adds.

You look down, then sigh. "I... I'll try..."

You wait a moment, looking down when you suddenly notice two hands reaching through the mirror from behind you.

You quickly gasp, when they suddenly pull you through, one hand over your mouth to prevent you from screaming.

You're pulled back into the mirror hall and panic fills you.

You immediately struggle and throw whoever pulled you out of the mirror against a wall. They let you go and slump down to the floor You see they're wearing a paper bag over their face. In a fit of fear and rage, you immediately snatch the backoff. To see-

"MR. L?!" You ask, as he immediately covers his face with his hands. He's trembling.

He seems genuinely terrified. He just shakes his head and covers his face as if he doesn't want you to see him.

You slowly kneel, your rage melting away, and you grab his arms, gently moving them away from his face.

He looks up at you, and you gasp.

Stitches are holding his mouth up in a permanent smile. It's horrifying. The perfect, carefree-looking smile is gone. Tear lines streak down his face.

His eyebrows draw together once he sees the horrified look in your eyes and his arms tense up like he's trying to loosen your grip on him so he can cover his face again.

You don't let him.

"Did..." You say, a terrified expression in your eyes. "Did he do this to you?

Mr. L trembles, not responding at all, which gives you your answer.

You wince, then slowly let go of his arms, raising both your hands to his face, undoing the stitching, allowing his face to fall it its natural state. He frowns and looks into your eyes, a mixture of thankfulness and heartbreak covering his face.

"I hope that feels bet-"

He quickly raises a finger to your mouth, shushing you. Then he gently grabs your arm and sprints to the inner sanctum. Once you get there he shoves the cockroach-like dresser aside, making a loud banging noise.

"Dimentio?!" Bleck's voice calls from a few rooms over, causing the two of you to wince.

Mr. L looks back behind himself for a second, then shakes his head and kneels down, and throws the small door open. You kneel and look inside, immediately gasping. What was once a glowing tunnel was now grey and gross, filled with cobwebs and broken toys.

"Dimentio!" Bleck's voice calls, closer this time. You look back in fear, then grab L's arm.

"Come on!" You say, trying to pull him in. "We need to go!"

He pulls back, then shakes his head.

"L?! What are you doing?! He'll hurt you again!!"

He shakes his head frantically.

"What are you doing?! We have to leave!"

You watch as a tear slowly falls from his yellow eye. He leans into your chest and firmly grabs your arms, shaking his head.

"C......" He starts.

Your eyes widen.

His voice sounds almost nothing like the real Mr. L's. It's incredibly soft and strained like something is blocking the sound.

"C.....C...n't.....go....." He whispers, fighting for words. "N......t.......r.ea....l."

He lifts a hand and points to his yellow eye.

And your own eyes widen in realization. He's bound to this world. He can't leave.

You slowly shake your head, tears forming in the corners of your eyes. "But... No. You can't stay here. He'll-"

"Pl.....se, ....g....o." He whispers, his voice soft and hoarse. 

"L-"

He quickly pulls you into a soft kiss.

Your eyes widen in almost shock before you close them and sink into it, placing a hand on his face where the needle and thread used to be. You see small scars from it, so you close your eyes, not focusing on them. And for a moment, everything's okay.

Then that moment ends.

"DIMENTIO!" Bleck's voice calls. Your eyes snap open and you see him standing in the entrance to the inner sanctum. His yellow eyes go wide, and he immediately starts sprinting over. "NO!"

L immediately pulls back, fear flashing over his face. He shoves a small paper note into your hands, then shoves you in the tunnel and slams the door shut.

You turn and try to open the door to get him when you hear a horrible scream come from Bleck, then a frantic banging on the door. You immediately jump back, and start crawling away through the cobwebs, as fast as you can. You feel your heart race as you crawl, the banging and screaming from the other side of the door becoming louder and louder.

You breathe heavily when you finally reach the other side of the door and go tumbling through. Once you're out, you immediately pull out the key and lock the door, breathing heavily.

You grasp the key once the door is locked and look into the eyes drawn on the wall, before sprinting away. Out of their sight.

Once you get back to your cave, you roll the boulder back over the entrance and wait alone in the darkness.

Safe at last.

You begin to shake and hug your knees to your chest.

The Alternate L... he saved you. But at what cost? You can't help but wonder what happened. Did the other Bleck, or the Manguer, whatever that thing is, hurt him?! You remember the screaming and banging sounds and hope that he is okay.

He kissed you...

You can't help but be confused. When you spoke to him on the roof, he seemed to want different things. But then he kissed you?!

And now, you'll probably never see him again.

You hate imagining Bleck sowing his face into that smile. You can't even begin to think of how horrible that must have been. Living in a world under someone else's complete control, where you must live for others' benefit and if you were to step out of line you'd get punished.

You realize that now... perhaps even a perfect world is imperfect to everyone else. If you were to rule, someone else would have to take the role you had before, and so on.

You know that now.