- Nothingness -
13 shinigami stood in a perfect circle, all staring down at the human lying before them.
"Ughhh….." Light Yagami awoke from what seemed like an endless sleep. "Where am I?" he wondered aloud. "If I remember correctly, Ryuk killed me on the staircase and then…"
Light looked around at the barren wasteland that surrounded him. It was like a desert of darkness. Stretching before him was nothing but an endless expanse of colourless sand. Mu. Nothingness. Light remembered back to all those years ago, when he first found the death note.
*****
It was almost 7 years since that fateful incident, but Light remembered the words Ryuk had spoken to him very clearly.
"Light Yagami," he had said, "Before I go any further, I need to warn you that no human who uses the death note can go to heaven or hell."
Light had taken about three seconds to come to a conclusion. "Oh, I get. So that means that there just isn't a heaven or a hell."
Ryuk looked stunned and impressed. "Wow Light, you really are something. I thought that all humans believed in that stuff. That's right. Once you die, everybody goes to the same place. Mu. Nothingness." Death is equal, to a certain extent, but you'll find out about that after you die.
*****
"Ku ku ku ku" a familiar voice chuckled behind him. "Why Light-kun, this is the Shinigami Realm, of course." The other eight shinigami surrounding Light also started chuckling.
"We welcome you, Light Yagami."
"R-Ryuk?" Light asked in amazement. "Is that you? You son of a bitch! You fucking killed me! I'm going to -
Before he could finish speaking his clutched his hand to his chest and felt his body start to seize up as a cruel, icy voice spoke to him.
Otoharada Korou, Heart Attack.
Light felt himself fade away. It felt like before, on the staircase. What was going on?
*****
Light Yagami awoke from what seemed like an endless sleep.
"Where am I?" he wondered aloud.
The eight shinigami surrounding him started rolling on the ground – or at least, the closest thing to ground you can find in the shinigami realm – with laughter. Light was confused, but he didn't really have the time to be. A truck literally appeared out of thin air and hurled itself towards him. The voice spoke to him again.
Shibuimaro Takuo, Car accident.
The truck slammed into Light at a devastating speed, crushing his skull and killing him instantly.
*****
"Ughhh….." Light Yagami awoke from what seemed like an endless sleep. He got up and looked around at the barren wasteland that surrounded him.
"This feeling…" Light thought to himself, "what is it…"
He looked again at the darkness around him. Somehow he got the feeling that he knew what was going to happen here, or rather, that it had happened before. Light thought back to what he could remember. He had suffered a heart attack, then been hit by a truck…
"It can't possibly be," Light thought aloud. "All the people I've killed…"
A shinigami emerged from the shadows.
"So," Ryuk chuckled, "You've noticed. That's right Light, all the people you have killed, you will suffer the same pain they went through. After you have experienced all the deaths, you will fade away and will no longer exist. Your body and soul will disintegrate. All memories and records of you in the human world will cease to exist. Light Yagami will be permanently erased from the human world. That is the atonement of a human who uses the death note."
Light was horrified. "No way."
Ryuk didn't seem to take any notice of the fact that Light was as pale as a ghost (and, in a sense, he was a ghost). "For example," he continued, "If you kill 10, 000 people with the death note, then you will die 10,000 times."
"That's so… inhumane…" Light stuttered.
Ryuk laughed loud enough for the other seven shinigami to shuffle closer towards the conversation. "That's inhumane, says he who killed thousands to become god of the new world. Come on, now Light, you didn't think that you would become a shinigami or something did you?"
He sat smiling at the human for a long time, until he was interrupted by the familiar, icy cold voice which Light was terrified of.
Naomi Misora, Suicide.
"What's happening?!" Light tried to stop it but he couldn't prevent his hand from grasping itself around his neck and squeezing tightly. Light was choking himself.
"Ryuk! Help me! Save me! You have to!" the rest of his pleads were cut short by chokes of pain.
Ryuk simply chuckled to himself and watched Light meet his doom. "I'd love to help you Light but, you know, orders from above."
The cold icy voice rang in Light's ears. "That voice, who?"
"That would be the shinigami king. His death note is the only one which can be used to kill the same human multiple times. In fact, it is exempt from all the rules concerning how to use a death note." Ryuk explained.
"Hmmm, interesting. I guess I'll talk to you later Ryuk."
"I guess so."
And with that, Light collapsed in the sand, his hand still grasping his neck.
Light awoke from what didn't seem like a quite so endless sleep this time.
He easily remembered everything about what had happened before. He was experience the deaths which he had caused. At that moment, lying in the cold sand of Mu, an idea was born in his mind.
"139, 486," said Light.
"Huh?" asked Ryuk, confused.
"139,486. That is the number of people of I killed with the death note. Tell me Ryuk. As long as I am suffering these deaths, I will continue to exist, right?"
"Well yes I suppose. But -"
"Thank you Ryuk. That is all I need." Lights face was glowing with excitement. "I plan to hunt down the shinigami king, and use his exemplary death note to restore myself to the human world, taking on my responsibilities as God."
A small smile crossed Ryuk's face, which quickly evolved into a grin baring all the hundreds of teeth in his mouth. "You really are the best Light… This - is - so – interesting!"
"That's right Ryuk. Before you killed me, I told you that I could bring you more fun. It looks like I will be showing you the genisis of my new world after all."
Light walked off towards the sound of the voice. "Come on Ryuk, let's go."
Ryuk took a single jump to reach Light's side. "Okay, but before we go…"
"Yes?"
"You don't happen to have an apple do you?"
*****
Light and Ryuk hadn't made it very far towards their goal, which was mainly because every 100 metres or so, Light was always dying. Whether it was suffering a heart attack, falling off a cliff, or shooting himself with a nail gun, it was always something horrible. Despite all this, Light pressed on, and about 10 months into their journey, Light saw the first change in landscape he had ever witnessed in the shinigami realm. A tall castle made out of jagged grey stone towered into the sky.
"Here we are Light. The shinigami king's palace."
"It's incredible." Light said in amazement.
"I suppose if you're into this sort of thing." Ryuk suggested. Personally, I prefer apples."
Light marched directly to the entrance to the palace and stormed in, expecting hundreds of guards, banquet tables lined with thousands of juicy apples, and a huge throne for thing king to sit in, but instead there was nothing. It was just another expanse of colourless sand. Just the same as the rest of the shinigami world. When they call a place 'nothingness' they mean it.
The only noticeable difference between this place and the rest of the world was that about 100 meters away sat a shinigami the likes of which Light had never dreamed. It must have sat at 50 feet and had fingers the size of cars.
The same cruel voice spoke to Light. "Light Yagami huh? I always knew you were different but I can hardly see the point in coming here. I know what you want and your not getting it. Nothing could ever make me give up this death note."
"Shinigami King, we do not wish to take your death note, we merely hope that you can send me back to the human world." Light said with both an air of respect for the king, and one which demanded respect from him.
"Even if I wanted to, I couldn't do it. The rules forbid it." The shinigami king meant the words to be final, but it most certainly didn't come out that way.
"I know you can do it. Your death note is not affected by the rules." Light could tell that he was winning the argument.
The shinigami king gave him a funny look, and then moved straight to the point Light had been dreading. "What is in it for me?" he asked.
"Damn it." Light thought to himself. He knew that there was no way any human soul could be worth as much to the king as his…
Ryuk suddenly jumped forwards and flew up to whisper in the shinigami king's ear.
The king turned around and handed one page of the notebook to Ryuk.
"Ryuk… If you do what you said you will do… I will be eternally grateful."
Light wasn't sure what had been going on, but all he was doing now was keeping an eye on the page of the death note. His ticket to life.
The shinigami king faded, along with the place, leaving Light and Ryuk alone in the cold, barren wasteland that was the shinigami world.
"Hey Ryuk, what was that all about?" Light asked.
Ryuk looked almost sad for a moment, but quickly changed his expression to a smile and chuckled aloud. "Nothing too important and I'm sure you'll find out soon enough."
Light decided to leave it there, but he had a feeling that Ryuk was keeping something from him.
Light took three steps, then clutched his heart to his chest and collapsed in pain. It was going to be a long walk back to the human world.