Prologue
L perched on the edge of a boulder, gazing out at the ruins of the Shinigami realm. A vacant smile stretched across his face as an opaque layer of smog crawled across the desiccated terrain, carrying on its noxious current whispers from the human world.
"Kira is dead," they hissed over and over, the words empty of character, a cycle of hollow echoes. "Kira is dead...Kira is dead."
L shut his eyes and recalled the moment of his heart attack. It was littered with flashbacks of his childhood - a cathedral's ceiling, a crying toddler, an iron fence, a springtime sky, rusty cogs, two childhood friends exchanging secrets and finally the sunlight peeking in through the tangle of branches that made up the roof of the forest.
Lurking in the background of his dying memories was Light's triumphant face, his mouth upturned into a winner's smirk that only L could see. His eyes burnt with a crazed passion as his fingertips clenched onto his nemesis's white pullover, feeling the life ebb away.
"Light," L murmured, as the whispers died away.
CHAPTER ONE - Ryuk's Return.
Ryuk tugged at the notebook trapped tightly in Light's crossed arms until it finally became loose and slid onto the floor with an echoing thwack.
Even in death he is determined to keep it as his, thought the shinigami, barking a bitter laugh that rung throughout the empty atmosphere. Though it had only been minutes after his heart attack, Light Yagami's body was as stiff as iron, and he lay sprawled out on the stairs like a fallen angel. His lifeless face looked peaceful now his warped soul had departed the body; but his eyes, half-open and glazed over, still contained remnants of fading contentment. For the first time in years he resembled the seventeen-year-old Ryuk had confronted in the bedroom that night.
Ryuk turned away from his old companion. He was done with him. It was time to move on and find another human to ill-fate with the burden of the notebook. He could only hope that this next person would be as interesting, as devious and manipulative as its previous owner had been.
However, Ryuk decided that before searching for somebody new, he would return back to his realm and gloat about his adventure to any shinigami that would listen. And he was sure that they would because, after all, most of them just sat around playing cards and reminisced about the 'good ol' days.'
He stepped over the corpse and began to climb the concrete stairway; one hand trailing across the tiled walls, the other clenched tightly around an apple.
Ryuk arrived on the rooftop a little while later. He was greeted by the pollution-sented breeze that usually caressed tops of city buildings and the agitated Kantou region's traffic rumbled from below. Looking up, he spotted a sky of unblemished blue and no other buildings obstructing his path.
He bent his inhumanly long limbs until his rear almost brushed the floor and felt power surge into his joints. He waited until they burned like acid before launching himself into that cloudless sky.
It was impossible to break through the barrier that separated realm from realm unless collided with a speed faster than light. This activity was draining, even on the shinigami body. Although they did not have to sleep to function, they were not immune to every kind of exhaustion and the journey required a will most had lost centuries ago. It also served as a purpose to keep humans out as no aircraft or vehicle ever invented could achieve the velocity needed for their entrance to the realm.
And besides, thought Ryuk as he tore through into the portal - the final leg of his journey. If they did manage to break through, no human or his material would be strong enough to survive against the portal's wrath. Even he, a being many considered an immortal could feel its force tugging at his skin, trying to shred apart any life force that dare intrude on its destructive peace.
It was common knowledge amongst his kind that this is what the Shinigami King issued as a Level 3 punishment: a shinigami would be chained to the centre of the portal and left there for however long his Majesty wishes, depending on his mood at the time of the offence. This was particularly excruciating as the immobilisation would cause the punished shinigami to endure the full extent of the portal's rage.