I came up with this sort of idea a while ago and I just really started working on it.

And that was when we all realized that I just can't freaking stop writing Death Note fics.

Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note characters and ideas. However, my perception of Mu belongs to meh, so blarg.

This is just a prolouge.

Just a bit of IMPORTANT INFO regarding this:

AU because L isn't dead. Light died in the college days because L was the one who caught him. I had to do this for my idea to work properly. If L died, he couldn't have had a Death Note chucked at him. That's not what the prologue is about, though. L isn't important until the next chapter.

Now. Here be your prologue.

"So," Light said in agitation, "this is Mu?"

"Yep. None other."

Light shut his eyes at the sound of that same old irritating cackle next to him. The cackle had never bothered Light while he was alive, but it was somehow much more irritating in death. This was partially due to his anger at his old Shinigami. Ryuk always had a knack for leaving out the finer details when he spoke of… well, pretty much everything. Mu was basically nothingness, sure, but it was still something. It certainly wasn't a black pit of endless darkness. However, there was no green grass, nor were there trees. There was a stray apple to be seen on the ground occasionally, but they were dry and tasted of sand. Aside from the apples, there was dirt, and a lot of it. Dirt and rocks were in a great abundance. Gambling seemed quite common as well. The most common thing of all, however, was Shinigami. Mu was their world.

"And you failed to mention this?"

"Yeah," Ryuk said. "Your reaction wouldn't have been as funny if I had."

Light gave an irritated grunt and started to walk off, but Ryuk followed him. Light stopped and looked at the gothic jester hovering next to him.

"You don't have to follow me anymore."

"I know," Ryuk said with a cackle, "but things aren't quite as boring when there's new Shinigami."

"What're you talking about?"

"You're going to have to go talk to the King soon, you know."

"Why?"

"Because you'll die if you don't get your own Death Note soon."

"What're you saying?"

"Did dying make you loose half of your IQ? You're not in the Shinigami World for no reason."

"I'm not getting this, Ryuk."

Ryuk cackled again. Light thought of punching him, but thought better of it. "You're one of us now."

Light appeared to be horrorstruck. Ryuk appeared to be highly amused. This was exactly why he had refrained from telling Yagami Light that humans who owned Death Notes while they were alive would become Shinigami when they died. Since Shinigami could die, there had to be fresh meat occasionally. Also, since not many Shinigami ever died, not many humans ever owned Death Notes. After the Kira incident, Amane Misa would also become a Shinigami eventually. Ryuk wondered how long it would take Light to get bored enough to attempt to get a second Death Note to drop in the human world. Indeed, Light seemed like he could become the type of Shinigami who would do something like that.

"Does that mean I can continue to work as Kira?"

"I don't know," Ryuk said. "Wouldn't that confuse L?"

"Probably," Light said, laughing. "That could be fun. He'd start his Kira hunt again and realize that he's dealing with a Shinigami."

"Hey," Ryuk said, "don't get too excited. There could be a rule against killing like that."

"Yeah," Light said. "What punishments do we get for breaking rules?"

"It depends on what you do. I know one. If you kill without using a Death Note, you get first degree agony and then death."

"What's that?"

"It's where you die. Or in your case, it's where you die again."

"Not death!" Light said in annoyance as Ryuk cackled again. "The first degree agony."

"I don't know," he said. "If I did know, I'd be dead."

Light rolled his eyes. Ryuk was just as unhelpful as he'd always been. What was the point in asking him anything when all he'd get was either an indirect answer or a smart ass comment in return? Of course, it was always get a signature guffaw to go along with whatever it was. Unfortunately, he still had a few more questions.

"I will get the eyes, right?" Light said.

"Yeah. All Shinigami do."

"How do I know how much life I have left?"

"You don't. Shinigami can tell when they're close to death."

"How?"

"We… just can?"

Light again rolled his eyes at Ryuk's unhelpfulness. "Do Shinigami get new names?"

"Previously human Shinigami can pick new names. Like you could take on just the name Light, or even go by Kira here."

Light leaned back against a large rock and looked around at the barren world. Grass was nonexistent. The lack of greenery was severely depressing. However, he noticed something a little odd. Amongst a group of Shinigami, one was eating an apple. This wasn't a dried apple, but a perfectly normal one, like the ones from the human world. That was entirely strange, as it didn't seem that anything could grow in a place like this. Mu, it was called.

"Why's he have an apple?" Light said, nodding at the group.

"Oh," Ryuk said. "I told a few Shinigami that the human world had better apples, and the word spread pretty quick. You can bribe the King with them now, too. There are a couple considering getting extra Death Notes already just to drop them in the human world and see what happens.

"Really?" Light said, intrigued. "That's allowed?"

"It's not against the rules, I guess."

"Then if I can't be Kira as a Shinigami, I could have another human do my work for me?"

"Yep."

"That's pretty interesting. One other question."

"Yeah?"

"Where exactly is the Shinigami King?"

"Oh, yeah. Technically, I'm still your Shinigami until you talk to him. I forgot about that. I should probably show you where he is, eh?"

"That would probably be a good idea," Light said. "I've already died one time. That was more than enough for me. And I didn't land on my feet when I got here, either."

Ryuk laughed. "They never do. Oh, and you know what?"

"What?"

"You get wings after you've gotten your new Note and the eyes."

"I sort of assumed that…" Light said. "It seems the rest of the Shinigami have them."

"One of the penalties for breaking some rules is getting them taken away for a certain amount of time."

"That's not so bad, right?"

"Getting them removed is supposed to hurt like hell."

"Oh," Light said. "Then I guess it is bad."

"Yeah. Come on," Ryuk added, hovering past him. "King's this way. You can ask him about the killing-criminals-thing, too, and how many apples it costs to get two Death Notes."

Knowing there was no other option but to become a Shinigami at that point, Light followed Ryuk off to wherever he was being taken. There was no point in protesting it. He didn't particularly want to be a Shinigami, but the only other option was dying. He definitely didn't want to do that again.