This is an AU story of Raito basically going into the past where he can meet L and hopefully find a justice to define himself. There are going to be some things that are in the original story but then there will be things that I just make up, ahh the divine right of the author no? Lol, but you read anything you like or don't please review, I'd prefer constructive criticism than outright slander. Sorry if there are any typos or grammar problems but I'm not a professional, I'll try my best to make it readable but otherwise this is just story among millions I wanted to write. Also, suggestions are appreciated.
There will be an eventual pairing of L/Raito (probably not for a long time), so if that bugs you then I suggest you take yourself elsewhere. One last note is that I like the anime and the manga so I'll be using both as a muse.
Disclaimer: I do not own DeathNote, Takeshi Obata and Tsugumi Ohba do. I do this purely for entertainment and do not profit from it. As if I could. lol
Night God's Redemption
Chapter one
"I am justice"
The three words that damned me and defined me.
"All humans are equal in death"
I didn't want to die, I knew that from the start but I never realized how much I wanted to live.
"Light-kun is my very first friend."
Was that just another lie or did he mean that? Who knows, because everything that came out of that guy was just nonsense anyway. Everything doesn't matter anymore. I lost, simple as that, and now I'm dead or at least I think I am. Floating in the nothingness that is Mu, thanks to the idiot shinigami named Ryuk. This place is devoid of feeling or color, like a blissful sleep in the absence of dreams or nightmares.
How many years have past in this hellhole? It's almost frustrating to think I'll never have an answer. I suppose the only thing that really matters is that I have all of time to think on my sins now. That's what they were, sins right, all the acts I have done as Kira. The sheer amount of people I have killed in my quest for justice, do I regret it? That must be the million dollar question, and I don't know the answer...again. I was right wasn't I? Humans were suffering under the evil filth that dominated everyday life. I stopped wars, reduced crime rates and acts of terrorism, all of this must out way the crimes I have committed.
The twelve FBI. Shame littered my conscience at the thought. Were they really meant to die? The good guy always finishes last in the world, like my father who died before I did. The justice my father taught me was that the definition of bad and good is easily visible in the acts of others and that justice was achieved in the laws of man. It was wrong as I had found out on his computer one day, the criminals always get away. His justice wasn't strong enough or I was not taught well enough. What else could explain how I have became so thoroughly tainted.
There is so much blood. It's all here in my hands, pooling beyond my fingertips into the abyss. I was wrong wasn't I? I was wrong, so then what is right? Was it That insufferable L and his man of mystery justice. He isn't any better than I am and everything is his fault anyway. It all would have gone according to plan if that man hadn't existed. If he didn't exist.
What am I talking about...I don't even exist anymore. There's no point in getting worked up. I lost just as he did, but he had one thing survive, didn't he. His name still exists with Near, his justice is still there on earth. Is mine? Near is still alive, and continuing the ground work of L started for his legacy. What am I left with? Doubts, and insecurities. I left no one to carry on my work, the people cannot possibly do it, only I am qualified! So that's it then, the conclusion of it all. L still lives and I have died. It was pitiable to even think or even admit it. In the chess game we played where I had thought to have checked L, he simply feinted and claimed his own win over me in the end, because my peons were useless. Mikami was useless, it must have been my biggest mistake to rely on that fool, and people wonder why I never confided in others. They were all useless in the end weren't they?
Stop. I'll go mad with this endless repetition. A snake that bites it's tail can only eat itself, so I have to let go. Just think of nothing and become a part of it.
Nothing...nothing...nothing.
Nothing.
"Humans are so foolish."
What?
"Light or should I say Kira" The amused voice whispered, "I have need of you so come back."
I had no time to question as what felt like a bolt of lightening shocked my senses. Need of me to comeback where? A feeling of vertigo hit me as sensations exploded the world into reality. My body slammed into the earth as the dust rose to my sudden arrival. The air left my lungs at the contact and I felt air leave me in a rush. Shakily I lifted my upper body from the sand so that I could steady myself, but the world kept spinning in my eyes. The humid air wouldn't fill my needy lungs as I gasped for it. I was breathing too fast, and my mind raced. I was panicking. It was too much, my sudden awareness of life was like I had just been birthed into the world once more. The hot sand warming my naked body and sheer essence of that feeling racked my nerves. I needed to calm down or else I would pass out. Where was I? No time to think about that. I turned myself over to face a dull gray sky overhead and blinked. In a last ditch effort for some kind of familiarity I rested my hand against my neck. A steady but beating pulse answered my inquiring fingers and I closed my eyes. Silently I counted the number of beats in a minute. I was alive, this was proof of that. My labored breath finally slowed down and I waited for the remaining dizziness to pass before I attempted anything.
Sighing, I finally took the chance to raise myself from the ground, the sand shifted to form against my legs and fitted between my toes. My head still tingled slightly but I ignored it. I couldn't complain about the complete grayness of the landscape before me. It was dull and almost as lifeless as Mu, but the lightened shade was comforting to my eyes. It stank of death but that was to be expected with the skeletons that covered the land. Whether they were human or animal I didn't know or care to inspect it at the moment. I might be the only human alive in this forsaken land but at least I was here. I wanted to laugh but my burning throat halted that. If I started I might not have stopped anyway, was it my final curse to be reborn on such a dead earth.
Feeling defeated, I slumped into the sand laying eagle spread on it's surface. I stretched out my arms to their fullest extent and I almost had the childish notion to make an angel in the sand. I swept my arm, shifting the sediments and burying my hand into the grounds warmth. I found that a little funny though because there was no sun as far as I could see here. So how was it warm? I puzzled over this for a few seconds before I felt something, a sharp corner of an object that felt familiar somehow. Sluggishly I dug to uncover the object, flicking the sand away one-handedly in a direction away from my body. I didn't look at my progress, and really I could care less for the item. Digging was more a form of distraction than anything else right now. What worth could it possibly have anyway?
"Ah!"
I winced slightly as I instinctively soothed the sting of my finger with my mouth. The coppery taste of my cut faded as I sucked my fingertip. I paused briefly to inspect it and froze.
"A...a paper cut?" I stated dumbly.
That was all I needed to spring into action. Frantically, I dug into the tiny hole for the item that had cut me. It had to be impossible, it just had to, or fate was more cruel than I had thought. Time was moving slowly as I inched away the sand, though the beat of heart seemed to increase and the feeling in my limbs was slowly escaping me. The black corner was all I needed to see before I wrenched it free from its confinement. Streams of sand leaked from its looseleaf pages as I gripped it tightly in my hands. The black cover stared up at me, mocking me, with sharp white letters printed boldly on its front:
DEATHNOTE
"Deathnote." I whispered slowly.
This couldn't be real. The tremors that ran through my hands shook my entire body, and a heaviness wanted to weigh down my heart into my stomach. This couldn't be real.
"So you already found one Light"
I willed not to react after I heard that voice, which surprised me. If I had ever met him again I thought I would be enraged but the dread welling up inside told me otherwise. With as much control and dignity as I could manage with my exposed body, I stood and paused to brush the sand from my knees. And then I turned to the Shinigami as if it was just another day in my house, when I deigned to answer another of his annoying questions.
"Hello Ryuk," I said calmly, "nice to see you again."
Ryuk laughed, "Hyuk, hyuk, nothing ever scares you does it Light?"
I wanted to say no definitively but that would have backfired on me. After my pathetic last moments at Ryuk's feet and begging for my own life, I couldn't reply so arrogantly. So I quirked a smile mysteriously at him and raised the Deathnote along with my eyebrow.
"Yours?" I asked.
"No, I don't know whose that is," Said Ryuk, "some idiot probably dropped it while playing dice. The shinigami of this world are so pathetic. Playing for nothing, and even forgetting to enter names when they need to extend their time. They're all still so rotten and boring, not like you humans who scramble around doing loads of interesting things. That's how I started entertaining myself with you in the first place, eh Light. We both had that in common. The boredom. Too bad you couldn't keep me entertained through your whole life."
I glared intensely at him and questioned, "I'm in the Shinigami world?"
"That's what I said." He said.
"How?" I asked.
I couldn't disguise my impatience with the carefree attitude he always maintained. The only thing Ryuk ever really bothered to get excited over were apples. Ryuk shrugged. Of course, what did he really expect as an answer.
"Well it's time to go," Said Ryuk, his wings extended out from his back, "the old man must be getting impatient by now."
"Bye then." I said, the sooner Ryuk was out of my sight the better.
Ryuk laughed and I gave him a sharp look. "Light your coming with me."
I stepped away from the Ryuk's hand as he reached for me. "Don't even think about it."
"Aw c'mon Light, don't be like that." Said Ryuk, "We're friends aren't we?"
Backing away I laughed in the Shinigami's face. As melodramatic as it sounded, I would rather die then go anywhere with Ryuk. For a moment I was tempted to write Ryuk's name in the Deathnote just to see if anything would happen, even though nothing would happen. I doubted I could spare the blood anyway, if the way my legs trembled was any indication. Ryuk dropped his hand, his wings popped out of his back and extended to their fullest length.
"The old man is very impatient, Light." He stated again.
That was the only warning I received before he launched at me. Desperately, I dove to my right, but the Shinigami's arms were far reaching. He clamped a cold hand on my ankle and launched upwards. The sand gave way in my hand and I was lifted by the unsteady beat of Ryuk's wings. An indignant cry escaped my throat at the humiliation of being upside down and not to mention naked. Ryuk's body hung in a weird posture in flight which enabled me to use his leg as leverage to kick his hand. There was no way I could endure this. I twisted my ankle with little success in Ryuk's grip as I felt blood rushing to my head. The only thing I had actually managed to do was get Ryuk to tighten his grip. Growling, I noticed I'd somehow kept a hold of the useless Deathnote. I stopped struggling and looked up at the Shinigami's face. He was distracted with flying, and it seemed like I didn't have the strength to make him release me. Then it hit me, it was a stupid idea given how far I was from the ground, but I didn't care. Rationality was something I had lost a while ago. I waited for a moment when Ryuk's wing beats ceased and he gilded, before I struck. Taking aim, I threw the Deathnote as hard as I could at Ryuk's face.
I was rewarded with Ryuk's shocked face a second before the looseleaf pages smacked into him. Triumph filled me as his grip loosened and I fell. I never even had time to feel dread or scream as the ground rushed to meet me, and darkness once again enveloped me.
"Really you are so incompetent." Said a deep and aged voice.
Hadn't I heard that voice before.
"Hey he went crazy and threw the Deathnote at me and I didn't expect it since he was so weak. I always forget not to underestimate him." Laughed Ryuk.
Oh great I entertained the airhead Shinigami I thought bitterly. I scrunched my eyes when I felt the a twinge of pain in the back of my head, hopefully I wouldn't get a concussion. I felt a prominent bump at the start of my hairline, but at the least I hadn't cracked my skull and there wasn't any blood.
Ryuk was bent over me, his eyes looked at me with what I gaged was amusement. "It's your own fault, but I have to admit you surprised me."
He waved the Deathnote teasingly in front of my face. Irritably, I snatched it from him as he continued to chuckle. Of course it had been a futile attempt to escape, but it was an attempt that mattered to me. Who could ever tolerate that kind of humiliation conscientiously. I sat up a little straighter, crossing my legs and placed the Deathnote in my lap. The pain had subsided to a tolerable level, and I experienced only a little dizziness.
I was in a large underground cavern somewhere, but oddly it wasn't completely dark. There was an eerie illumination encompassing the cave that didn't quite reach the roof. For some reason it bothered me.
"Welcome Kira." Said the familiar disembodied voice.
I had heard it before, back when I first came to this world and met Ryuk. The voice that had greeted my arrival was here.
"Who-" I started.
"The old man." Ryuk interrupted, "He's actually King of the Shinigami realm but I think calling him 'old man' sounds much more fatherly."
"Ryuk..." The king warned.
"Hyuk, hyuk," Ryuk chuckled, "well he's the one that dragged you outta Mu."
Dragged me out of Mu for what?, I thought.
"Yes Kira, when Ryuk's Deathnote told me your story I was very impressed. The sheer amount of lives you have stripped in only a few short years would do any Shinigami proud. Though that kind of dedication would decimate the earth's population which is why humans should be thankful my children are so lazy. The amount you have taken would fill the lives of several Shinigami"
I felt no pride whatsoever to his comment that I might once have secretly felt. Sacrificing myself to better humanity had taken too much away from me.
"You must be wondering why I called for you? After all, I didn't bring you here to compliment you." The king said, he was trying to catch my interest and it worked. "I control everything in this realm: the Shinigami, the Deathnotes, and Mu. So when I heard of your escapades I quickly summoned Ryuk who let me borrow his notebook in order to learn more about you. It's pages tell a thrilling tale in my view, and I was intrigued. Luckily I was able to find your conscientiousness in the deep recesses of Mu and place you in your original body, before you dissolved."
Dissolve? "That still doesn't explain-"
"Ah you are a quick one. You see as the god of death I cannot simply take the lives of humans to extend my life. I require more sustenance then they can offer. So every few millennia one of my children will offer themselves to me as well as the accumulation of the human lives they have collected throughout their life. As king it is my gift to take."
I didn't like where this was going.
The king continued. " And the amount of life you have collected with the ownership of two Deathnotes is astounding, as I have said. It is not very often a morsel such as you comes along."
I resisted the urge to gulp. It was just great to be thought of as a tasty treat to some million year old monster that had to spoil it's dinner. So I pointed out his one flaw. "I am not a Shinigami."
"You see the problem, but there are always ways around rules aren't there. It is true for everything." Said the Shinigami king, " As a human I cannot consume you, but since you are a Deathnote user I can bypass this rule with your consent."
"What makes you think I would give it." I said angrily.
Suddenly it felt like there was a looming presence over my shoulder.
"You must have regrets," It whispered, "every user of the Deathnote is destined a cursed fate after the first victim. Wouldn't you like to live again? It wouldn't be the same one but it would be a life. Ryuk has told me, before your encounter you had at least 50 years left."
I could feel my heart beating in my chest. It had to be impossible, there was no way I could live again on earth could I? Then again what was I doing now.
"I think it is a small price to wait a couple decades to consume your life, and all you would have to do is live and die again."
It sounded good, too good to be true. "But-," I said skeptically, "you said it wouldn't be the same life, and how do I know you just won't order Ryuk to kill me."
"Distrustful as ever," Chastised the king, "I would not kill you, any action like that on my part would make the deal void and I wouldn't be able to consume you. It is also impossible for me to interfere with human history to such as an extent as to replace your former self. You will live but so will your former self that will become Kira."
"There will be two of me!" I said incredulously.
"I wouldn't worry Light," Said Ryuk who had floated of to the side somewhere, "the television said there are people who look almost exactly alike in the world, eh?"
Nodding, I was still anxious, "It's still not the same."
"Your right of course," Said the King, "Two exact entities cannot exist in the same world. That is why you will be getting your own Deathnote, and I don't mean ownership, I mean a Deathnote that is a part of you."
"How is that even possible?" I asked.
"It can be done." He said simply, "You will also have to follow the same rules and, to some extent, the same punishments as a Shinigami. It will be like you are an honorary member more than anything."
"What if someone else gets a hold of the Deathnote?" I said slightly alarmed.
"Well then you will just have to be careful. I'm sure you can manage it." Said the King, "So do we have a deal?"
The last word seemed drawn out with the King's anticipation. I stared at a grove my foot had made in the sand where I was still sitting. If I said no, what would likely happen? I would end up in Mu again and dissolve into nothingness. The thought made my chest feel tight and numb, but would going along with the King be any better. Where my fate was sealed at my death to be eaten like some animal. The crutch of the Deathnote was not an appealing prospect either, but as long as I was alive I had options. I could find a way out of the contract and live a full life. I could find a way, even with my former self alive in the world because I am Light Yagami. I am a genius, on par.. no, exceeding the great L and I could do it.
"There is also one thing you should know," Interrupted the King, "if you should happen to be recognized by your counterpart then your side of the contract is null and void, and you will die at once."
"I understand," I said evenly, "and I accept."
"Then we have a deal." Said the King proudly, "now there is the matter of the time and place."
"Hm?"
"For your descent to earth, I will place you anywhere you wish except Japan." Said the King.
...my first friend..
"England." I said without thought,perhaps a first in a long time.
"Very well." The King said to my horror.
England? I said, England! It wasn't like I was going to be in a very good situation anywhere else but I said England because of some stupid comment L had once said. Though I doubted he wasn't a junior champion in England, since he was a very good tennis player. What made me say that? It was then I noticed the illumination was brightening, and every part of the cave was finally visible. Gazing upward I found the owner of the disembodied voice who covered the whole area of the caves ceiling. A giant skull was in the center of a mosaic of smaller ones, they decorated every part of the roof. Rotting flesh was still hanging onto several, while others were broken. The soulless eyes of every one stared at me, would I become another head on this thing. I was holding my breath, a stench I hadn't noticed before was making me sick; the rotten flesh. Covering my mouth, my eyes widened to their widest extent and I backed away a little. The unholy aura secreted by this creature filled me with some unexplainable terror on a very basic level. There was no way to survive in its presence.
"It is quite shocking at first, isn't it Light," Said the huge skull, it's teeth clacking slightly, "though you have no reason to be afraid because at your death you will be a part of something magnanimous."
I felt Ryuk gripping my shoulder suddenly and I jumped. "For the Deathnote to be a part of you, you must be a part of us."
I couldn't stop staring and exhaling was starting to become difficult as my breath grew heavy. A tendril, black as night, slithered from the mouth of the skull like a snake. As it neared me I tried to back away but Ryuk halted me, his laugh was mocking me in my ear. There are worst things than death, maybe I was about to experience one. As the tendril reached me it slowly curled around my arm and I shuddered at the slimy feeling it's presence elicited from me. Finally it had come to it's destination, pointed straight at my heart like a knife and I froze. I couldn't breathe anymore, this would kill me I thought despairingly.
"Until we meet again Light." Said the King eerily.
Then it struck. The tendril pierced into my chest through my heart and I screamed. There was nothing but a blinding pain that eclipsed being shot, or stabbed, or anything humanely possible. Spasms ran throughout my body as everything started to go black, my vision was leaving me and Ryuk's face laughed soundlessly. It would be alright, I thought as a surprisingly calmness filled me. A black tendril leaked into me and so did the disgusting essence of what must be a Shinigami entered me. It would still be alright.
"Light-kun is my first friend."
Mine too, I thought finally. An odd thought to end with as everything faded into nothing.
Well there you go, it's Chapter 1!! Yeah!! If this interested you then read more please, but I have to warn you that this story is not going to be as predictable as you think. He will wake up where? And in what state? Not just naked if your being simple. Lol. K, that's all for no
So, TBC.
