oftheletter | ic inbox (aefenglom)

His own hubris.

[Not completely, but Near likes the dry way that rolls off his tongue.]

With the combined efforts of myself, my team, and Mello.

[Especially Mello. Perhaps absence makes the heart grow fonder, whatever heart Near might be considered to have, but the more years pass the more credit he's willing to give his rival for Light's defeat.]

[Snort. Score one for Myr's own intuition.

(And there's another reason to treat Mello with more charity. He'll keep it in mind.)]

I'd a suspicion hubris played a role. How did you do it?

There are too many details to go into it all right now. It involved months of tracking him and his accomplices.

[One slip-up on either side would have ended it, and he'd come close to being on the losing end.]

If he had not been certain of his victory we might not have been able to pull it off. Kira won't make a move unless he either has plans upon plans in place, or he's completely lost his composure.

[Which typically won't happen unless his plans have already fallen through, but it could be more of a possibility here on account of all the potential extenuating circumstances.]

Which makes him liable to be more erratic here than at home, I imagine, given his place of relative unimportance as one Mirrorbound Witch among many.

When he gets bored, or impatient, [and here Myr is shifting around his assessment of the man; this is definitely a when, now,] is he more likely to try and suborn Parliament and the guard, or try recreating the magic he had back home?

[And then, suddenly and viciously and under his breath,] Andraste's pyre, all he'd have to do is become a Somniari.

[Did Talam even have those? He makes a note to talk to the Dreamers about it. Or someone close to them.

Like L was, and like Light might be if he learned a few things about Mirrorbound and their dreams.]

That I can't say. This is a small town. There isn't as much corruption regularly visible among the populace. The focus is smaller. He could turn his efforts upon actual dangers to the people here that don't exist back in our world. He could make a decent person of himself.

[This is an entirely different scenario, and as much as he dislikes Kira he doesn't see him immediately trying to set himself up as a god here, especially without the anonymity he had before.]

But his sense of justice is tainted, and knowing what he's capable of becoming it wouldn't be a good idea to get complacent.

Small? [is Myr's quiet, bewildered echo; he's momentarily distracted from the topic at hand by that idea. Aefenglom's larger even than Hasmal; to someone raised in a Circle with mere hundreds of inhabitants, either city was immense.

He'd had the vague impression people were much more densely packed in L's world, but this really brings the notion home.

Well--regardless. He gives an audible shake of his head, antler-charms jingling, to dismiss the thought.]

He could, [he continues, regaining composure and the thread of his thoughts. His tone is...grudging, but he'll accept the point.] Certainly men have repented of worse than he's done and gone on to better lives.

[But as Near says, Kira's sense of justice doesn't seem conducive to repentance, does it?] Though, as you say, it's possible to allow him that much grace without being blind, [hah,] to what he's done and will do.

[Then, sighing,] Linden might be a great help in, [and unsaid: and has strong incentives to,] that process but I worry he's more fond of his nemesis as-is.

[Mild way of putting it, but Myr's not going to voice L's self-conception of being Light's jailer and well-deserved punishment. That felt too much like reifying an obscenity.]

[Given that Kira operated on a country-wide scale at the very least, this one city was very small in comparison, yes. Perhaps it hadn't been the best choice of words, but the idea was there.]

Linden, like all of us, was very isolated as part of our career path. [He doesn't say chosen career path, though perhaps any of them could have easily opted out of it by not putting in their all and not becoming a successor to the name. So he must have wanted the job all along.] By choice, mostly. And there were very few to challenge us mentally.

Kira was a challenge to him. Now that he's experienced that challenge, other goals will seem less meaningful. So yes, I would say that he's fond of him in that way, which is a problem.

[He could compare L and Light to himself and Mello, but he won't. Mello's murder record is far smaller, for one thing.]

[Hardly Near's fault Myr's from a quasi-Renaissance hellworld where constant war and zombie invasions keep population centers nicely compact.]

Mmm. I've some notion of that; my own upbringing wasn't dissimilar from yours, [sheltered, managed, freighted with certain expectations, with any sort of leeway contingent on performance,] and Linden's a type I know well enough.

Given completely free rein and whatever resources you needed, how would you solve this particular problem? [Myr could not in good conscience entertain the idea of smothering Light in his sleep--it would not be just--but it make so many things easier.

While also breaking L's heart, which was another reason not to do it.

And another reason to get perspective from someone whose concern for his Witch was more dispassionate.]

[The fact that Myr seems like he was a socially functional humanoid of some sort has Near mentally doubting that the other's upbringing was anything like his, but he keeps such thoughts to himself.]

That's an unfair question. I would have him returned to our world so things could play out as they should. Linden could not blame me for that the way he might if I were to kill Yagami irreversibly.

Without those options and without having any idea of his plans for this world all we can do is watch and continue to warn my mentor without pressing him so hard that his stubbornness comes into play.

[There's absolutely no guarantee that Near will be able to avoid doing that at all.]

[The Circles didn't always produce socially functioning individuals. Myr was, in some ways, a lucky mage.]

Linden is too often a would-be suicide, and I'd count myself honored to earn his blame for interfering with that. [Bluntly said. If he thought killing Light here in Aefenglom would prevent anything back in L's world, the temptation to do so would be a damned sight more tempting than it is.

But:] Though all the evidence I've ever heard is that things do play out exactly as they should, however long our interludes here.

You don't think it worth baiting Yagami into acting unprepared, then? Or otherwise altering his trajectory.

[He has to pay at least some credence to the idea the man might be salvageable; the Maker expects that much of him. Much as he dislikes it.]

The problem with baiting him is that if our intentions were revealed, and this place already has a way of revealing things we'd rather it not, he would wonder why we would be making such plans. It's important that we don't take any actions that could reveal what we know.

[With Near, especially. If Light learns that he's even partially responsible for his eventual downfall, much less that he's the one left standing at the end, then his time here is going to become quite a bit more difficult. Granted, this would also give them an excuse to act more purposefully against the man, but it's a situation he'd rather avoid.]

I don't see him as someone who can be "redeemed with the power of love" or whatnot, no matter what sort of front he puts on.

[Kira is someone who takes love for granted, after all.]

[Dryly,] Trying that would require I find something about him "lovable". [And while he finds it easy to find lovable features in most he meets, that didn't extend to people who murdered those near and dear to him.

Another point to Near for deducing that much about Myr's usual modus operandi from the evidence, though.]

I'd rather suspect he'll only consider changing in the wreckage of his own ambitions, and no sooner.

[Which, speaking of--]

That exact tendency of Talam to reveal our secrets is why I believe you can't afford to keep playing this game with him. You, or Linden, or M--Malakai. None of you have the resources you did and you cannot close the same type of trap around Yagami--but nor is that necessary, here, when he is nothing more than another Witch, however brilliant.

Predicating your entire strategy on him never learning about the future you're from will fail, and you have no control over when it does. The mirrors could show it to him at any time; some inexplicable magical event or mislaid charm spell could force it out of any of you into his ear.

Better to make use of the advantage you've got now, while you still have it, to set the terms of ongoing engagement in your favor.

What would you have me do? Break ties with him without a worthy explanation?

[He shakes his head.]

No. The threat of information being revealed is there whether or not we have anything to do with each other. What I've done complicates things for him more so than for me in that event. If we were not bonded, he could set about my demise with no repercussions to himself and potentially with me being none the wiser, depending on how the information was shown to him.

I have more of an advanced warning now. I'm closer to the epicenter of things.

[Coming across as somewhat trustworthy only works up until the man learns the awful truth. But until that happens, which can still be never, being in this position does help him.]

Quite the opposite.

[The kind, concerned thing to do probably would be to counsel distance from Light; but Myr knows L too well to think his successors would accept that, any more than the detective had.

Besides--they were as much, or more, raised to conflict as he was, even if theirs was an entirely different battlefield. Telling a fellow soldier to quit the fight for his own safety would be insulting.]

I'd find a way to convince Yagami of the ultimate futility of what he intends, and of any action he takes here affecting the outcome he's doomed to. Not only that, but convince him that your version of events--your full knowledge of who and what he is--will be released to the Coven and the Mirrorbound should any of you die under suspicious circumstances.

He relies on ignorance of what he is and what he can do to achieve his ends; you've said as much. Deny him that.

[There's a pause after Myr speaks. If Near was anyone else he might have followed up with some unfriendly, disbelieving laughter in response to the other's words. Instead, his voice just sounds cold.]

So instead you would back him into a corner? A wounded animal can be the most dangerous.

No. I won't do that.

[Myr means well. He knows that. But this answer, in a place where a permanent death is uncertain and they are connected to each other by their very souls, could potentially be more hurtful to everyone.]

Right now he has no reason to rush any plans he might be putting together. You would give him one.

You've said he's at his best when he's leisure and space to plan, [Myr points out, with ruthless logic.] And--presumably--worse when he's rushed.

He's still ignorant of much of this world and--we can only hope--has yet to sink hooks into anyone in a position of importance. The longer he's left alone, the more allies he will accumulate, the stronger he'll become as a Witch--and the more chances he has to suborn Linden.

Will you have any better chance than you do now? Or am I missing some part of the plan where you, and Malakai, and Linden will have accumulated the resources to overpower him in a year or two or ten when he's at the apex of his abilities?

We don't have a fully formulated plan either, which is exactly the problem.

[Near remains entirely unmoved by Myr's words.]

Malakai still hasn't been here long, and there are tensions between him and Linden. That's one problem. Linden was attached to Yagami before he even arrived and doesn't have enough regard for his own safety, which is another problem. Both of these are only a couple issues atop of many.

We need to work out a better course of action ourselves before we end up rushing just as much as he would be. And once again - he would be the one backed into the corner in that scenario, with less to lose.

We are not heroes. This isn't a battle that can be won by charging in sword first.

[Myr does not sigh at this. Eli is an expert in a different field--one he's still able to practice in, unlike Myr--and deserves respect for his viewpoint.

It doesn't make it any less frustrating to have run into just as much of a wall as the Faun had with L, albeit one that at least has a rational actor maintaining it.

There's a quiet jingling from his side of the call, indicative of some small motion, before he speaks again.]

It is, however, a battle that may not wait for Malakai and Linden to resolve their tensions, or for Linden to learn the self-regard he lacks. You may not have the luxury of solving any of the problems you've identified before you need to do something about Kira, and the advantage of knowledge you have over him will likely evaporate long before that. I'm not asking you to go against him without a plan at all; I am suggesting you substantially accelerate your planning to exploit your present advantages.

[And then,]

How much do you know of what he's doing, day-to-day? Do you know who his other allies are? Do you have a notion of how you might neutralize him if it comes to a physical confrontation and none of our Witches are in a position to be of any use?

Do you have anyone outside of Malakai and Linden positioned to help you against Kira?

With all due respect. Myrobalan. I think you should leave my planning to me.

[The cold tone has returned to Near's voice. This sort of backseat driving is why he works with a limited amount of people on his cases. As L, it's a given fact that if he takes on a case he isn't going to stand for others stepping in unless he asks for it.]

In my position, the less I share with anyone, the better. I don't need further arguments.

[He has someone outside of Mello and L, and he's currently talking to him. He knows the Faun will step in even if they're not on good terms. Making sure that doesn't happen at an unnecessary time will be the hard part.]

Do not act on your own, either. You run the risk of upsetting things.

With equal respect, Serah Eli, I am your--and Linden's--ally, not your servant or your tool. Even if I were, you do not know me nearly well enough to make best use of me.

[His tone is equally cool.]

And I do not know you well enough to lay aside my own plans and sit idly by on your say-so. I respect your acumen and Linden's appraisal of your skill and intellect. But I know too well the blindspots his upbringing has left him with, and how much trouble he's found when I've taken his word he's dealt with them.

[He's well aware of the implicit insult embedded in those words, but it's also no less than the truth.]

I am also not Linden.

[Near has lasted as long as he has on account of not having those same blindspots. He'd like to believe this, anyway. Even where Mello is concerned.]

And you also do not know Yagami. While I understand that you care for your bonded, stepping into a situation like this one with ideals too lofty for what you'll be facing isn't a good move.

You are the outlier here. Do not attempt to direct matters.

No. You finished what he couldn't.

[Credit where it was due.]

But I have a hold on him that you--and even Yagami--don't. [Perhaps not as strong as the compulsion that tethered L to Light, but different in kind, and different in what he could ask of or expect from his Witch.] And my investment in this is not merely because I care for my Bonded. If Yagami is the evil you present him as, then he is a threat to all of us and my ideals say I must oppose him with everything at my disposal. Even if that means intruding on something you believe is your problem alone.

[Then, he does sigh.] I do not want to direct this; I'm made to follow, not to lead. But the lot of you--Linden, Malakai, and Yagami included--are making a serious mistake if you expect to prosecute this battle under the rules and expectations of your world, rather than this one. The first man to deviate from them has a tactical advantage.

I cannot follow you if you insist on yielding him that advantage through inaction. Nor if you refuse me the intelligence I need to do my job.

You stand to ruin all precautions we've taken here so far if you step in where you shouldn't. Do not presume to guess what rules and expectations we're working with.

Exposing what we know of him is not something that can be undone or stepped back from. You are not to do this lightly because you think it will give you an advantage here. If you do this it will make you a threat and I will treat you as such. Do you understand?

Stow your righteousness and don't leap into action just because you believe you know what's best.

I very well will presume to guess if you don't tell me.

[Then a snort, half-amused.]

Oh, I have no intention of deploying your secrets as a weapon, serah. I would have no idea how to use them to best effect. I'm merely advising you do so while they still are a viable weapon--and before I decide the injustice of killing him is less than the injustice of letting him have his way with this world.

[And the harm to L would be outweighed by preventing L's death.]

If killing him is all you wanted, I wouldn't personally care.

[This is stated as bluntly as possible. L's feelings aside, Light is already beaten and dead in Near's world. If he dies sooner, all the less damage to be caused (though he's sure this won't be the case). He will suffer the rebound through their bond if need be.]

You would only need to make certain you got it right and that there was no chance of him returning. If that's the case, a warning beforehand would be preferable.

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