Disclaimer: I do not possess ownership to death note or any other registered ideas mentioned in this fic.
Solar Eclipse
Chapter 1
Dirt and dust frolicked against the ground of the Shinigami Realm, the dirt was not moving but it spoke to the dust through its routine stillness. The tired and bored creatures that inhabited the realm walked about lazily, basking in their own boredom. On a rock formation that settled among a group of shinigami, Ryuk overlooked the masses. He watched as some slept and others played tedious games that required little to no wit. One of the death gods asked him to join in their gaming; he refused to join the foolish sport.
Indolently, a shinigami with Native American feather styled clothing scratched itself. Such an act sounded insignificant but it was the ultimate form of drama amongst the dirt. The sound of clashing bones of a gamble being held by some of the gamers brought another focal point to the activities that seemed so limited around Ryuk.
It was all boring, repetitive and a waste of the eons of time that Ryuk had. Something needed to happen to liven up his dreadful life. Scarcely able remember if life had ever been different, the other shinigami had an excuse to live in such a lackadaisical manner but Ryuk remembered. Being one of the most intelligent, if not the most intelligent among the death gods, he knew the past that so many others had forgotten.
There had been a time when shinigami killed for the joy of disrupting human society and keeping people interesting to watch; now, even the human's world had grown boring. Also, there was a time when shinigami traveled to the human world just to watch those miserable mortals when they discovered their loved ones had died. Humans were always Ryuk's favorite pastime; it was time to reunite with his hobby.
Walking around the Shinigami Realm, Ryuk wondered why he had even stayed alive this long. If all life consisted of was these placid beings that wrongly called themselves shinigami, it would have been beneficial to just stop writing names and let his life run the last bit of its course. Writing names, of course, was the shinigami's way of extending their life; whenever the death god wrote the name of a human in a Death Note the human would die and the shinigami would retain their lifespan.
As he walked, his yellow rimmed red eyes picked up the scene vividly, after all the same scene had been there for the past eternity. Wetness glazed over the pupils of Ryuk's eyes and he looked at the dusty surface of the land, maybe there would be a remnant of the past to interest him.
The Shinigami Realm was similar to the human's moon in the respect that it had no air or erosion to move around the soil. If a shinigami hundreds of years ago left a footprint in the dust, than now Ryuk would still be able to look at the surface of the ground and see the sampling.
On the ground something perturbed the dirt, in an attempt to alleviate his boredom, Ryuk dug up the hidden treasure. It appeared to be a Death Note but the rules of this particular note were out of the ordinary, they were fascinating. Although in years past Ryuk would be skeptical of such an item, his companion shinigami were far too witless to create a fake death note.
Interesting indeed but only if the note was in the possession of a human would the effects be seen. Ryuk wondered if there was any human that would be amusing enough to actually use it in order to make the abnormal rules work to their full potential. As long as someone who was not a mindless follower of functional society picked it up, they would probably use it. Ryuk decided it was indeed time for a voyage to the human world.
Ryuk outstretched his black wings, it was such a great feeling of freedom from the constancy when he did this but this time he would really be breaking his wings out into the air. Speedily, Ryuk headed towards the portal to the human world and lunged into it.
The next task was finding the perfect place to drop the notebook. Adults were too caught up in their jobs, and children were too foolish. The best case scenario was the death note falling into the hands of an older teen, so Ryuk decided a school would be the best location to drop the death note.
Trains, buses, and cars moved as easily as the pedestrians made their way through the transit area. Yagami Light was among the people, another part of the entirety of the city, which in reality made up for one of parts the whole of the humanity. It was a distressing thought to associate himself with the people he saw around himself or the people he saw on television being convicted of horrendous crimes. Humanity was becoming less human every moment.
Commuting to school each day and even the time he spent listening to his peer's conversations only proved how much of a vista had been formed around people's minds. No students in his class spoke of the women who had died on the news the night before, the war being raged in another country, hunger, or even the pathetic political scene in Japan. Society was taught to focus on themselves and narrow their world to their actions and future job, it was all so boring.
Someone asked if he was alright and before he could make a snide remark he realized it was the teacher. Apparently, he was being asked to translate a portion of English text.
"Follow the teachings of god. Then the blessings of the sea will become bountiful and there will be no storms" Light said to the teacher that stood before the English class. What an irrational sentence to read, if the sea blessed the sky it would only make more storms. The first idea of the sentence was equally as ludicrous, Light did not believe in such things.
Sitting down, Light looked down at his 'notes'. The concept of note taking was something that he never did pay any attention to. There were plenty of designs and drawings in his notebook but none of them were even associated with the subject matter that was being discussed.
Drawing a contour image of the teacher that muttered on about subjects that Light did not care to listen to, Light made it look as if he was taking notes and watching the teacher write on the board. Once he finished the image, he closed his spiral notebook filled with the black ink clad pages and propped up his head using his hand. The teacher probably did not even discern that one of the students stopped taking notes, teachers never noticed anything.
Light sought refuge from the class by gazing at the beauty of the sky. The smiling night's moon, which had waxed to nothing but a sliver, had disappeared and left the blazing sun in its place. It was ironic considering the true rendering of his name, which was a word that could be pronounced moon, that he liked the moon better than the sun. Contemplating the moon, Light found many things about it that were similar to him: conservatism, illumination and a beauty that all could see and a few feared. The major difference was that Light was yet to have the ability to block the sun.
A shadowy item obstructed the sun from Light's view and it would forever more prevent the sun, if you consider the sun a life giving force. As the object fell, a shadow formed across Light's face; it was as if the item had chosen Light to inflict it's darkness upon. The object, which Light identified as a notebook, continued to fall until it touched the grass.
Dismissively, Light turned to face the teacher and found that everything in the class was still the same but it felt as if so much had changed in the last few moments. Maybe no one else noticed the shift in the entire universal perception of life or detected that the black entity had made its way in front of the sun, but Light had noticed and he knew he had to pick up that notebook before any imbecilic student or teacher could.
Class was going to be released, Light knew without even the slightest glance at his watch. He had nothing better to do during class than to count the seconds until the class would end and scribble drawings his notebook. As if in response to his thoughts, the classes ended. Students rushed out and begin to blab their idle ideas. The arrogant minds of each student surged on into the endless meanings of such young life such as grades, gossip, and cliques.
Light bypassed the crowds in more ways than one and walked towards the place the black book had fallen. Despite the noise of chattering around him, the sound of the notebook lifting of the grass seemed to echo in his ears with profound significance. The black cover was tattered and worn, the pages waved as if they had water damage. Running his fingers over the front cover, Light felt a chill unrest the homeostasis of his body.
And with that a solar eclipse occurred in mind and reason; the moon of Yagami Light had the ability to block the sun of human life.
Death Note, the book said, and it was written in English, it meant a notebook of death. Reaching his fingers towards the edge of the front cover, Light allowed his middle finger to reach the cover first and then along with the rest of his fingers lift the dusty cover.
The first page displayed the title 'How to use it I'. What a foolish way of writing something. It would have been much more effective if the words were 'directions' or 'usage guidelines'.
'Once this book comes into contact with human's hands it is activated. Once active a name will appear in this note sporadically. The human whose name is written or that appears in this note shall die.' The warning to prevent someone from viewing the rest of the notebook was rather creative; Light would need to copy something like this in his own books to prevent them being read.
Skipping over the rest of the rule, Light turned his attention to the second page where there was stranger writing.
'8 Wo 13 Manik' Light blinked, it was a Mayan calendar date from a time in the B.C.E. time period. Light, himself, would not be able to read the glyphs if not for reading a book recently on the classic civilization. Whoever wrote this must have been more creative and much more intelligent than he originally thought. The page continued in the odd glyphs.
'Only a human can read this. Do not tell the shinigami about this invisible message. Read quickly, this message will soon disappear completely. This Death Note belongs to shinigami this is a special Death Note, it is called Choice. Once you touched this Death Note you made your first choice, your next choices will not be as simple. Near the end, you will know when, there will be an option to alleviate yourself from this book. I offer my guidance-'.
Light closed the notebook and decided to put it in his backpack, it was not as if anything that the book said was true. The text would not actually disappear. With a slight sigh, Light placed the book inside of his school bag and began the walk home. He could turn in the book the next day so that the rightful owner would claim it, for now it would be an interesting read.
Maybe the notebook was supposed to cause a reaction; it might be a prank rather than a creative writing piece. He wondered if the fact that he picked up such a sadistic item was somehow being recoded and someone finding entertainment from the fact that Yagami Light took a 'Death Note' home, falling for an elaborate trap.
Upon arriving home, a conserved and peaceful environment greeted him. His little sister was happily smiling, and his mother had her usual pleasant and blithe attitude. It seemed the only person that felt different was Light. Assessing the change he felt, Light wondered if the feeling was the result of sleep or lack thereof. It made sense, he was tired and his mind was analyzing futile things.
There was little chance for rest now, Light had a preparatory class later in the day, but he could at least relax for a few minutes while watching the news. After dispersing from the company of his mother and sister, Light went to his room and turned on the television.
All newscasts boasted that they had the inside look at a new headline, the young and beautiful model Misa Amane had died of a heart attack without any family history of heart problems. It was odd but Light deemed it insignificant and continued to flip through the channels until he found a channel displaying more important matters, a criminal was holding hostages at some establishment.
"Follow her while yet her glory shineth,
There comes a luckless night,
That will dim all her light,
And this the black unhappy shade divineth.
Follow still since so thy fates ordained,
The Sun must have his shade,
Till both at once do fade,
The Sun still proved, the shadow still disdained."
(Follow Thy Fair Sun, Thomas Campion)