So, my bunny ran away from me while I was in the middle of writing Chapter 11, so I went back to read the beginning. And I realized that the beginning didn't fit at all with what is happening later in the story. Mostly just the tone, but yeah. It needed to change. So, you people are basically getting five chapters today!
Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note, and never will. Not even if I fall through a dimensional hole and try to recreate it in the past, because I can't draw that well.
Chapter 1 - Light's Boredom and Aryn's Plan
Light Yagami-Arget-Suino was bored. He had been locked in this stupid cell for nearly a month, with nothing to do. Sure it was fun to mess with their heads by singing the 'Song That Never Ends' but that got tiresome quickly. So did 'I Know A Song That Gets on Everybody's Nerves' and 'Henry the Eighth'. Even '99 Bottles' only lasted a day! 'Doom Song' annoyed him too much for him to actually sing it and all he little kid things just scared him deeply. And, to make it worse, Aryn wouldn't stop bugging him. She was feeling extremely smug and perky about something, and it was annoying him to no end.
He couldn't stand it when she decided to be perky and dense. One, it reminded him of Misa. He didn't want her in his head, by any means. Two, he couldn't deal with perky insane-o psychopaths. Regular insane-o psychopaths, sure. Hell, he freely admitted that he was one! But, something about the perkiness made his masks crumble, and made him want to act as weird as he usually was, which was bad when you are Kira.
Yes, the Death Note was not his anymore, but he remembered. Perk of specializing in mental magic. God, he hated the fact that he was a murderer. Again. The Death Note was from a Realm that Light had never heard of before, with a completely different type of magic than he was used to. Even a Fallen Seraphim, like Light, couldn't guard against something he didn't understand. A homicidal sentient notebooks were most definitely not something he understood.
But once he had given up the Note, he got control of his own mind back. Then, able to tell that something was clouding his memories of the last half a year or so, Light had swept away all the foreign magic, leaving him with his full memory. And he and the others had decided that they would alter the Note so that it couldn't be used in such a way again. After all, the next person to pick one up might not be able to break free at all.
He was really lucky to have such understanding friends. They had accepted the fact that he was Kira! Of course, the fact that they were kind of stuck together helped, and the fact that it wasn't really him. And all five of them had sworn that they would completely eradicate the killer presence inside the Death Notes. They refused to be responsible for the death of an entire race, however, so they would have to alter the Death Notes' purpose. After all, the five of them were responsible for the safety of all the humans from the non-humans. They couldn't let Shinigami kill people willy-nilly.
Light had no idea what they were going to do for the Shinigami however. Maybe make them feed off of people's laughter? And then change the Death Notes so they tickled people rather than killed them?
Oh dear brother of mine! Aryn mind-sung to him, interrupting Light's rather odd musings, Guess what I have for you?
Light sighed. I don't have any choice, do I?
Aryn giggled, sounding like a mix of his adopted sister and Misa. Scary thought that. Nope! But I promise you'll like my surprise! Come on, it's not like it'll give you a heart attack or anything.
Light scowled. Aryn! You know how I feel about what I've done. Please, don't joke about that. Of course.
I'm sorry. Her joy diminished slightly before brightening up again. Hey! Near's here! I'ma ask him to join the convo, kay?
A new voice joined the conversation. That is one of the best painting you have done, Aryn.
Light yelped and fell off the bed that he was sitting on. (It was really annoying how often that happened, really.) Aryn, he asked, Is that your surprise? Yep, yep!
And may I just say, that food looks like it is actually rotting? Near's incredulous voice sounded, How do you do it, Aryn?
STOP THAT!!!! Light roared, anticipating what Aryn and Near were about to do, Do not make-out in my hearing. I don't need to be unable to escape. Even though the two of them had been dating for almost three and a half years, Light was very uncomfortable with the thought of his twin sister and one of his best friends making out around him. Even just mentally.
Giggling filled his ears. God those two were immature when they cut loose. Not that he was much better when his masks were removed. Wait. She mentioned that Light's idea/drawing/commission-thing/bat-demon-eating-a-sprite/bodyguard-dude was finished. YAY!
L frowned. Light had been acting strange for the last couple of weeks. He had been getting on the investigative team's collective last nerve.
First all those repetitive songs earlier this week, and trying to give himself a concussion for almost 24 hours straight before that. That had resulted in a padded room for Light. And now today.
First he was acting sour and gloomy, but that was to be expected in a prison where he had had nothing to do for the last month. Then he got annoyed at absolutely nothing, then he was exasperated at something L couldn't see, and then he fell off the bed. That was actually quite amusing. The main suspect for the first Kira appeared to have an inner ear problem.
And now he was dancing around the room singing something. L hoped to God it wasn't another never-ending song. Aizawa had threatened to quit if he had to listen to another minute of that, and Matsuda appeared to quite enjoy singing them. For a policeman, the man had a lot of problems. He didn't need any more ideas.
L clicked the audio button, a new addition to Light's cell due to that musical streak he appeared to have developed. Along with tone-deafness. It hurt to listen to the man!
Instantly, noise filled the room. But, surprisingly, it wasn't a Japanese bastardized version of American and British annoyance songs, it was a phrase, repeated over and over again. In English. The words were as followed: It's finished. Over and over again.
"Light-kun," L called, concerned for the teen L considered his only friend, even if said friend was his suspect. And again when Light ignored him. "Light-kun." Ah, now he was silent. "Light-kun, are you okay? What is finished? Is it anything I should know about?"
"Yeah, I'm okay. I'm better than okay. In fact, get me to a computer in about an hour to two hours, and I'll show you exactly what is going on."
"Light-kun," L chided, "You know I cannot do that. You are a suspect for the true identity of Kira. I cannot allow you access to a computer."
The ecstatic light in Light's eyes dimmed and his jubilance quieted. L felt like the worst person in the world, but reminded himself sternly that Light was his suspect, and he had to be careful, as he did not know how Kira killed.
"Yeah," Light whispered, looking at the floor, "I know. It's just, I'd hoped that, if you...if you watch exactly what I'm doing the entire time, maybe, just maybe I could? I...I've been promised a picture from my American friend, and I just realized today is the day she promised to load it onto our shared account on an art website so I can retrieve it. She doesn't know about the fact that I may be Kira, and she is expecting me to call her about it. If you don't believe me, ask my father. Tell him...tell him that Aryn and Near are supposed to be uploading another picture in the Everlost series. He'll understand. He knows Aryn. So do Sayu and my mother."
L's eyes widened. How did Light know that name? Near was supposed to be at Wammy House with the others! "Light-kun..." L's voice faltered, even through the scrambled static voice. "How...how do you know that name?"
"What, Aryn? Well, I should sincerely hope that I know the name of my twin sister." Light said, dismissive of his lonely childhood.
"Not Aryn. I meant the name Near." L was slightly worried. Understandable, given that one of his three most promising heirs was known to Kira. (He did mark the fact that Light had a twin sister not mentioned in any of the papers that he had found regarding Light Yagami.)
"Why do you want to know about Aryn's boyfriend?" Light crossed his arms and glared around the room at random, good sense (This was the leader of the Kira investigation!)(He couldn't act that childish!) warring with his healthy and thriving pranking sense. (Such an opportunity may never come again!)
Aryn felt the conflict and quickly told him to put his side of the conversation on speaker to let her and Near listen. And furthermore, she was renouncing him as her twin if he didn't go with the prankster side! Light sighed, and rubbed at his neck. L was still processing this response, so didn't notice him jabbing at the point on his neck that made it so the sounds around him were also transmitted across the mental bond.
Decision made, Light decided to act on his prankster twin's behalf and spoke up. "And if you don't stop taking such an unhealthy interest in it, I swear to God, I will hurt you!" And Light struck the classic anime I-got-you-now-nah-nah-nah-nah-nah! face. In other words, he stuck his tongue out at the camera and pulled his eyelid halfway down his cheek. "BLEEEEEAAAAAH! SO THERE!"
L choked quite admirably at this behavior from him, but then, he'd gotten to know the crazy killer Light. (ie the Death Note) Light cocked his head, listening to Near as he laughed quietly with Aryn at L's apparent discomfort, audible even through a scrambler. "Light-kun, that was very naughty. Were you trying to get me to choke on my cake?"
"I'uno. Did it work?" Light replied, still listening as Near realized who exactly his girlfriend's brother's captor was to him, given the comment about cake. OH YEAH! Light was the MASTER of playing innocent!
Light, why didn't you tell me that L was the one holding you? Near asked.
Because, I don't want you guys to worry about me too much. Light explained while L was scolding him.
What do you mean? Near asked.
Umm, let's see. You, Matt and Mello have told so many horror stories about the case files Matt hacked into, and what L is willing to do. I don't want you guys to think that you have to come to Tokyo to rescue me. Light explained sarcastically, responding to L's chiding in the most childish but gutsy way possible. He mooned the camera.
Light, you are an idiot. Why wouldn't we want to know that you were being held by a man with only a loose attachment to the laws? That's something that friends tell each other. Near was absolutely shocked.
Do you want us to try to warp over there, Light? Aryn asked, We probably could get you out. NO! Oh yeah,
Already? Aryn asked, surprised, It's only 11 in the morning!
For us. Near reminded her. For Light it's midnight.
Nah, 'm fine. Just be quiet and lemme get mind-sleep, Light slurred, half-asleep.
The last thing he heard was the scrambled voice of L asking him what was wrong.
L was quite worried about Light. It was definitely not normal behavior for him to be at all like this! Every single one of his actions since he had put himself into that cell indicated a far less serious person than Light usually appeared to be, though, L did have to admit, he liked the teen he had come to know over the past month far more than he liked the one he had gotten to know over the three months before that. Though, L could have done without being mooned, most likely in an attempt to get him to choke on his cake.
And, as his sore throat was reminding him, it had worked. Admirably well.
Sighing, L leaned back and got ready for another long night of watching the three prisoners, though, he did decide to talk to Yagami about the girl named Aryn Light had mentioned, and how exactly she had ended up dating his heir.
"Yagami-san, do you have a moment?" L asked the worried father.
"Of course," the man laughed. "That's practically all I have these days."
"I need to ask you a question, Yagami-san. About a comment Light-kun made." L stated.
"Okay, shoot. What is it?" Soichiro asked, looking at the camera.
"Light-kun mentioned something. He said that he needed to go on a computer for a moment to get something from a 'shared account'-" Soichiro twitched "-he said. He said that I should tell you something, and that you could vouch that he was retrieving something okay. He said I should tell you that Aryn and Near were going to be updating the 'Everlost' series, I believe he called it." L finished, quite curious about what could have made the stoic police chief twitch about the mention of a shared account. "Could you please explain these comments, Yagami-san?"
Soichiro began to laugh quietly. "I can't believe I forgot about that." he laughed, "I should have remembered them. I assure you that Aryn and Near are not attempting to send Light a coded message in the picture, just some joy. The Everlost is the world those five have created between them, and Aryn occasionally does paintings for the races in it. They all share an account on a website called Deviant-Art. Aryn uploads her drawings there, and they all get copies. The girl's drawings amaze me. They're extremely life-like, despite the fantastic material. And believe me, she is not the sort to cooperate with a killer like Kira. Though, she does have quite a twisted mind in a different way." Soichiro shuddered, remembering the Paintball Battle Royale of '02. The house was still vaguely tie-dyed in the right light.
"I...see." L said slowly, "You said those five? I know of Aryn, Near and Light-kun, but who are the other two?"
Soichiro looked up, no longer as defeated looking as he was just half a minute ago. "Why, their best friends. Or worst enemies. The way those five act I'm never quite sure how they keep from killing each other. Mello and Matt."
L was now extremely worried. Near was an uncommon name, but conceivably used more than one time, but Mello, Matt and Near all together? All of his best heirs? Associating with Kira, no less?
"I see, Yagami-san. Thank you." L said, about to turn away when he heard Soichiro speak again, much softer.
"Ryuuzaki..." the man said, "thank you. You have no idea how comforting the thing you just reminded me of is. I'm no longer quite as worried about Light."
"You're welcome, Yagami-san." L replied, not quite sure how to take this. How was it that he, L, greatest detective in the world, had just been left with more question than answers and completely befuddled by two men of inferior intellect and experience?
Well, L amended, looking at the sleeping form of one Light Yagami, experience at least. Light-kun is just as intelligent as I am. Maybe even more so.
Aryn sighed in relief as she felt Light finally slip off into oblivion. She glanced at her boyfriend of nearly three and a half years and smiled.
"He's out. Outer than he has been in almost a year. It's safe. He isn't going to register the call," she told Near, a smile tugging at her lips.
"I'll get Mello and Matt then," Near said, tucking a short lock of unruly reddish hair behind her ear. "It's even more urgent that we get there now. I knew he was locked in a cell, but really? L? The idiot needs to tell us things like that."
With that, Near closed his eyes and sent out the mental pulse that all of them had decided on to get their minds focused on Everlost. The world dissolved into a kaleidoscope of colors as the other two felt the pulse and returned with their own, and they surrendered to the pull of Everlost, their haven to meet at when they couldn't physically be together.
When the swirling colors stopped, instead of being in an apartment filled with a large number of intelligent live paintings, Aryn and Near were standing in the Hall.
The Hall was the oldest of Everlost's features. It was the cave they created first, after all five of them had been in the accident during the trip to Britain that had changed everything and found that Matt, Mello and Near had been linked into the bond between Light and Aryn. They discovered that the bond essentially worked like a chat room online. There were different areas for each person, and anyone who was focused on that part of the bond could talk to that person, and anyone that person was talking to. Very useful for cheating on tests.
Matt and Mello were standing next to them, and thankfully, Light was nowhere to be found. All of them shared a smile of relief at that. They were fairly sure It would work, but weren't entirely sure.
"So," Near began, "Matt. Have you acquired tickets for the flight?"
Matt grimaced, not liking the emphasis the younger boy put on acquired. He made it sound so dirty!
"Yes, I have," the computer genius replied shortly, "The next flight to Japan leaves in about," he checked the watch he had jury-rigged to go at Earth time, which meant it moved at about three-fourths of Everlost time. Yes, they had done experiments. "Umm, three hours AT. That should be enough time for even perfectionist here-" Matt jabbed playfully at Aryn. "-to pack and get a cab. And yes, they are for first-class. You guys are leaving from where?"
"My apartment. We're going to be bringing all of my stuff, cause Light can't seem to live without us. Therefore I, at least, am moving to Japan," Aryn replied sniffily, miffed at the jab at her packing skills. They were awesome dammit! "And you know full well how fragile my equipment is. Remember last time I didn't get enough time to pack all of my paints and clay just right?"
The four of them shared a wince at the reminder of the nasty mess they found the last time they packed Aryn's junk too quickly and then got on a plane.
"Yes. That was quite a mess. I still have some robots that come to life and attack people while they sleep."
Sweat-drops.
"Remind me again, WHY HAVEN'T YOU GOTTEN RID OF THEM, IDIOT!" Matt was one to let you know when you were being an idiot in his opinion.
"They amuse me," Near said, serenely, playing with one strand of his hair.
FACE-PALM!
"Anyways..." Aryn continued, trying to get the conversation back to the soon-to-occur trip to Japan to bust Light out rather than her magical paint that made toy robots go homicidal. "So, where are you guys again?" she asked Matt and Mello.
"...I'd rather not say." Matt was looking extremely shifty.
"What he means is that, yet again, he decided to ditch the hotel to go to a more comfortable place that was reserved using less-than-legal-methods." Mello wasn't really one to mince words. No, not at all.
"I don't really want to know. If we leave now, can you get to my apartment in like, half an hour and help me pack? The bat just got scanned and doesn't want to settle down. I had to set Dysna on it to keep it still." Aryn said, slightly uncomfortable with the rather illegal direction this conversation was taking. Just because they weren't liable to laws, didn't mean Aryn liked discussing breaking laws. Actually doing so was fine, but discussing it left her eyes going dry. They still had no idea why.
Mello turned to Aryn. "I thought they didn't get that bad?" he questioned.
Aryn shifted uncomfortably. "Ummmm, I may have linked the bat and Light?"
Near stared at her. "You didn't. We agreed not to do that until Light was out of danger. As the painting would see it anyway."
Aryn sighed. "I...umm...kinda mixed up the paints when doing the eyes? Accidentally grabbed the linker?"
Matt sighed. "We'll be right over." With that, Matt grabbed Mello's arm, and they disappeared. Five seconds later, so did Aryn and Near. They were going to Japan!
I should say this: I FEEL NO SHAME!
Also, I tweaked the trio's age. Just by one year, I think, but still, they're closer in age to Light and Aryn.
And yes, Light and Aryn were adopted. They were originally from a Middle Eastern clan of magic users, who ended up getting massacred when Light and Aryn were six. Light and Aryn got adopted at the age of eleven, just after they finally managed to escape from their parents murderers, who had been holding them captive for five years. Yes, they are rather severely messed up.
I repeat what I wrote in my profile: I write crangst. At least, I do now. I used to write a large variety, but I found my niche. So, expect there to be a painful past for these people, and a future that would make a lesser person go insane (and some greater persons to think they're insane).
And yes, you guys will get an explanation as to what the hell is going on later in the story. Er, chapter 9, I think.
And, once more: I REGRET NOTHING!