Light leaned back in his recliner, serene brown eyes narrowing as he observed the television special on Kira. There they showed clips, old rallies and gatherings. Light's lips moved faintly as he counted how many times he caught a glimpse of Mikami Teru. One, two, three, four…He sneered. It took astonishingly acute eyesight in order to pick up the dark-haired man, standing complacently amidst the raving crowds.
Everything about him was intense and composed, sliding in beautifully with the masses as he stood with an impassive expression upon his masculine features. Thick, dark eyebrows, longish black hair that hung about his strong face, brushing gently against his broad shoulders like a dark silken curtain. He donned a new, neatly presented suit in each frame, though there was little variety presented. Sometimes he wore glasses, and other times he did not. Light noted that he no longer wore his glasses as the document furthered into the timeline since Kira's arrival.
Shinigami eyes…
Teru's face was clear and center as he spoke out for Kira, this time adorning a simple black suit jacket and black and white pinstriped shirt. His tie was a striking, deep red. Thin, pale fingers groped the microphone, free hand making emphatic gestures, his deep baritone resonating through the speakers. Teru's voice faded as a narrator went on about something having to do with avid supporters and the slowly building support as the years went by. At first how no one accepted Lord Kira's rule, and how that opposition had evolved in the population into devotion and affection. Light smirked; of course, they believed what you wanted them to believe. Especially when the media had shifted towards Kira, finding that that's where the money lay.
With the media on ones side, it made things so much easier in order to gain approval from the populous. Especially now that his judgments carried out through Teru, went on unopposed. His plan, though it had not gone precisely as it had been laid out, in the end had proven to be successful in eliminating the Near, whom was onto his trail and just about to place the death penalty on his head.
But I am Kira…Light thought smugly to himself, he was indeed Kira. And after successfully killing the Task Force, Near, and his little band, the SPK, he had indeed proclaimed himself this. Teru of course stood in the doorway, body shaking with adrenaline as he held the notebook in his shaking hands. The notebook had been a fake, but Teru had thought ahead, much in the same manner as Light's thought process. He had in fact placed an original page safely on his person, just in case. After seeing that his Death Note had not worked effectively in deleting said gathering, he had resorted to the concealed sheet.
They had dropped dead.
They all fell, one by one. Dropping and clutching their chests, the others running around in panic as they saw fellow comrades hit the floor in quick succession of each other. Light could only smile, grinning with a wickedly creepy grin that stretched his face. Around him bodies fell, and he looked down upon the fallen forms, a new sense of Godliness bestowed upon him as he stood over them, above them. As he rightly should, he conceded. Near's eyes widened, dropping the finger puppet he grasped, a sudden sense of déjà vu thickening in Light's veins as he watched that familiar form slide to the earth. He blinked, and received a glimpse of black, dark as sin. He blinked again and it was replaced by the mousy white figure toppling before him. Dark eyes gazed like eclipsed moons up towards Light, fear and disbelief coating them in excess.
A large, tyrannical grin solidified upon Light's face, chestnut eyes glistening with a maddened sheen of victory. Malice emanated from his expression, rolling off his being. Near's eyes became even wider like those of an alien, and then lost their pained wideness, becoming doll-like and blank.
Light approached, his shiny black shoe nudging the pale being below him. His smile widened, his foot nudged harder. "See Near!" he shouted, drawing his foot back and making sharp, sudden contact with his corpse. The sickening sonata of cracking could be heard, reverberating through the now deathly quiet warehouse. Teru still stood in the doorway, the light casting a long, inky shadow that stretched across the room. Light continued to jab the tip of his glistening shoe into the albino figure that was splayed haphazardly at an awkward angle.
"L is dead!" He laughed, tossing his head back and laughing with twisted jubilance, driving all his force into one kick that flung the dead boy belly up. Light continued to laugh, grinding his foot in obscene places on Near's limp body.
Light retreated, taking several composing breaths and running a hand through his disheveled tresses, which flopped obediently back into place. After what had been just moments he regained his cool, flawless persona. The serenity and calmness moving back onto his features. "Mikami…come here." Light's eyes fixated upon the trembling man standing in the doorway. Teru walked forward, his well-muscled legs rather unsteady he stumbled forward. His eyes however were locked firmly upon his God, whom stood front and center, looming above him like a shining idol.
But an arms length away, Teru fell to his knees, hiding his head with a sheet of black. "G-God…" he murmured, awed to be in His divine presence. "I have done as You asked me…" His arms felt utterly useless as he stood there like an inferior at the knees of God. He mentally scolded himself for showing such weakness in front of Him but Teru could not bring himself to stand, only quell on his knees before that omnipotent being.
"Look at me." Light's tone was soft, his tenor voice encouraging. Though there was a slight crack in his normally faultless voice, a small strain from how it had been previously utilized. Teru's head obediently tipped up, raven locks sliding back to reveal his strong, prominent jaw and amber eyes that glanced up in wordless affection and devotion. Light's slender fingers reached out, grasping Teru's chin and tipping his head up.
"You did well…"
Teru's breath hitched in his throat. "For you, God." he said lowly, deep voice colored with zeal, hardly hidden by his humbled tone.
"Yes…anything for me, right?"
Teru gave a sure, steady bob of his head. His steadfast idolatry in the face of God causing Light to give a small, treacherous smile. "I want you to continue judging criminals for me, until the world is ready for Kira to have a face…"
Teru was well aware not to question the will of God. He knew that His will was absolute, and he knew his place. However he could not hold down the one question that insistently bubbled unto his lips. "And then?" Teru glanced away after asking.
Light brushed his thumb gently across the alabaster skin of his disciple, humming a melody to himself. He leant down, placing a small kiss upon Teru's cheek, and then sliding his lips over to his followers. He kissed his adherent full on the lips. Teru was in fact quite unsure as to whether or not he should return the kiss. His unspoken inquiry was answered, however, when Light's tongue pried his lips apart then invited his tongue to feel, to explore. The wet cavern of Light's mouth was like a holy worship ground, and all the rushing blood inside Teru's veins halted for that small window.
Light drew back.
"Then is not important, Teru." The lawyer shuddered as God spoke his name, feeling as though his birth name was not fit to pass from such privileged lips. "Then is not important…"
…
Light gave a tight smile, turning down the volume of the speakers. The time was drawing nearer; each breath brought him closer to the momentous instant when the people of the world would hear his voice, know his name. Recognize their God. Kira was now widely, if not entirely accepted across the planet. Those who disagreed or disproved of his methods were minorities, growing smaller with each of Mikami's judgments. And it was high time that he disposed of the fanatic that he had utilized since Near's defeat, seeing that his services were no longer necessary.
Light drummed his fingers against the leather arm of his plush chair. There was some sick satisfaction in the fact that Teru would without a doubt offer up his life, write his own name in the Death Note if ordered to. But how…how would that bring any enjoyment? Boredom…it saturated Light's mind just as it had in his post-pubescent years as he graduated high school. The game between L and Kira had sated his lust for intellectual exertion, carried on by the challenges presented by M and N.
After all obstacles had been effectively destroyed, there was nothing left to oppose him. No hiding, no worrying about each careful, calculated step he made. It was almost maddening, he still occasionally would adjust the handle on his door out of habit, checking it when he came in, finding it set in its allotted position each time. Where had the endless, twisting maze of mind games ended? He desperately wished, just for the slightest moment, to have them back. L and Kira forever locked in a duo dance of rivalry and hatred, fueled by the passion of their own starkly different morals as they evaded and at the same time attempted to become closer to the other.
The boredom…it was slowly spreading spindly fingers back over his heart. Now…what interest would it contain to call Teru and simply tell him to inscribe his own name in the Death Note? Besides, without Mikami he would not be upon the pedestal he was now, but instead dead at the hands of the pathetic excuse of an L imitation. He deserved a more…
Personal touch
…
"God…" Teru's voice was genuinely surprised. He had no longer needed to distort his voice, the threat of detection passing to a point where things became more lenient and instructions became less rigid. It had been a year since God had last spoken to him. The last call he had received was simply a notion that the time was arriving and to continue as he was due.
"Meet me at nine."
Dead line.
Teru stood with the phone perched next to his ear, eyes wide with the short, brusque order left by his God. His breath hummed out from his lips as he placed the phone back into its cradle.
Nine…Two hours.
Teru believed that it was judgment, not for criminals but his own. The time was coming…That was a year. The time was here… now…and now Teru would have to wait for what God was planning to do. He could not predict the actions of such an intricate entity, instead he could only recognize and revere the beauty and intellect of that indefinable being that ruled over him.
Two hours…
…
"Your clothes."
Teru paused, standing still as a statue in the doorway to Light's apartment. He took a step forward, letting it swing closed as he stepped inside.
"Take them off."
Teru gave an unsure nod, unbuttoning his shirt and letting it drop from his shoulders exposing his sculpted torso. He then undid his buckle and let his pants slide down. Stepping out of his slacks, he then went to tug down his underwear, revealing the flesh beneath as well as the tender area of his manhood. Light observed him up and down before turning on his heel and walking down the hallways. Teru blinked, sliding the shoes from his feet then padding after God, naked and baffled to this request. God had never before shown any sexual interest in the devout lawyer. Yes, their lips had connected but it was simply that and that alone. Teru would not be opposed to a physical relationship, but did only what his idol desired of him.
He followed the faint sound of footsteps, his eyes darting with anxiousness as he walked across the carpet and turned into the room where he had saw God enter. He was halted, struck by how dim it was, lit by several candles that encircled the room. It filled with shadows cast by the candle light and was and heavily scented, incense permeating the air. Teru stood in the doorway, feeling his stomach turn uneasily and his heart thrumming insistently in his breast.
"Get on you knees."
Teru obliged, stepping forward towards the center of the room and getting to his knees, feeling oddly exposed. He stared down at the unblemished white carpet, wondering what was about to occur. Something…something that would alter everything. He could feel it and the notion floated like a black harbinger in the back of his skull. Regardless he kneeled there obediently, waiting for God to issue more instructions.
There were no more instructions. Instead Light encircled the older male like prey. He was dressed in black from head to toe, the glow of the candles giving his skin a warm, vigorous glow. His expression was blank, yet something gleamed in those pitiless brown pools of his. The light made them almost take on an unnatural reddish tone…
"The time is coming…" Light spoke, his voice rather haunting and eerie. There was little to no inflection, just simply flat words devoid of emotion. "You know it, don't you, Teru? You're a smart man."
Teru knew he was not supposed to reply.
"The time has come when I will emerge as the one and only Kira, to rule as a God. The New World is in sight, Teru. That means…" Light continued to circle Mikami, approaching him from behind. Teru did not turn his head, knowing better than that. Light smirked lightly.
Teru shuddered as he felt Light's hands placed upon the back of his neck. They massaged the skin, followed by the faint fanning of breath against the apostle's skin.
"…you can die with some solace."
Teru clenched his teeth, feeling the hands grow rougher and impatient upon his flesh. "I will die, if you need me to." Teru said, feeling his heart strike a painful chord in his chest with this statement.
"I have something special planned…I've been bored lately, Teru-kun. It's been driving me sort of crazy. You'll be my jester for the night, in a sense. Will you do as you are bidden, my devoted right hand?" The suffix placed upon the end of his name was put there almost mockingly. "But then again I don't need an answer from you…I believe you know it as well as I do."
"God…"
Deft fingers pinched a nerve in the back of Teru's neck, causing him to grunt with sudden pain rushing with heated intensity into his system, sending all his senses on alert. Light withdrew, continuing to circle. He paced an imaginary ring around the fourth Kira twice before stopping. He knelt down so he was at eye level with the respectable lawyer. Hands went out to snatch up Teru's, taking an individual finger and shoving it into his mouth. He salivated on the small appendage before moving to the next. One hand was slick with spit, visible in the ominous lighting. "I have a game we can play…Now I want you to answer a question, Teru…For each question you answer wrong; I'll have to punish you, it would break my heart to have to, so be honest."
"Now," Light cleared his throat and licked his lips, giving a thin, dominating chesire smile. "Would you saw off your legs for me?"
Teru's eyes widened as he felt Light's hands wrapped gently around his tighten in anticipation. "…" Teru was thrown off by the question. "…Of course."
Light's expression darkened. "Lie."
SNAP.
Teru let out a wracking sob of pain, one finger broke cleanly. His breath shuddered as one finger swayed at an odd angle.
"And did I mention?" Light asked, his voice light as he gave a small smile, tilting his head to the side. "If I break all the fingers on one hand, you have to do something for me."
Teru was silent, hanging his head as he tried to calm his breathing.
"In the Middle Ages, they did something called 'Trial by Ordeal'. It determined whether or not someone was innocent by having them perform a painful task, if they survived or their wounds healed well, they were innocent by the grace of God…do you believe you deserve the grace of God?"
"I…" Teru grimaced, finding words hard to access at the moment. Light's fingers tightened insistently on his subject's hand. "I have done everything you have ever asked me…I can only beg for grace."
"Wrong again, Teru-kun."
Instead of breaking Mikami's finger on the spot, he paused a moment, letting this sink into the man before him. Teru looked up at him, amber eyes wide and unblinking.
SNAP.
Mikami cried out, his breathing emitting in choppy breaths as his eyes clenched shut. Light frowned. "Crying out? What happened to my impassive Angel of Death? I hate it when you cry out, don't."
Light teasingly took one of the broken finger, jiggling it. Teru moaned, his body shuddering. Light began to tug the broken appendage, Teru continuing to moan, each breathy noise growing louder in correlation with how hard he tugged. Giving a devious smile, Light yanked on a finger. Teru shook his head, biting down on his lip to keep in the scream. Light licked his lips, grasping both broken fingers and pulling sharply.
Teru couldn't help but let out the wracking sob that shook through his body. Light pursed his lips. "Looks like you'll have to be punished doubly for that, it pains me but I must until you learn your place."
Mikami convulsed with pain as two more were broken, leaving only his thumb left. "You lost," Light chided, tipping his head back and rolling his eyes to look up at the ceiling. He grinned. Taking Teru's thumb in his hand, he began to slowly add more and more force upon it, slowly but surely breaking it. Mikami whined in an unnatural tone, sweat dripping down his naked body.
Smalls pearls of tears gathered at the corner of Teru's eyes. "God…" he murmured. "God, God, God, God…" he repeated the word in frenzy as if it would take the pain away. There was nothing to take the pain away, just a hand full of fingers, all the bones cracked. His God was putting him through an ordeal, he rationed, and his God was seeing if he was fit to be beside Him in His perfect world. That Teru was so loyal that he would stand true that the grace of God would save him and bring him into the light. The promise of death, naught but a ruse.
How terribly naïve.
"Now you have to do something for me." Light's clever fingertips traced flirtatiously up and down his jaw, feather light touches a severe contrast to the previously bone-splitting vehemence displayed by Kira.
"I want you to cut your leg off."
The candles flickered.
"How many years, has it been since you've been under my wing? Doing my bidding, carrying out my wishes? I have given you my power, and recognized you as my follower and my disciple. Is that not enough for you Teru?" he purred lowly, a slow menace growing in his voice. "Is my willingness to place the duties of Kira upon you not worth pain?" he whispered throatily.
"God…" Teru whispered out. "I will…"
Light closed his eyes, a vicious grin overtaking his lips. He stood, turning so his back was to Teru. Eyes slowly reopened, the smile still sitting with morbid pleasure upon his chiseled face. His footsteps were light and fluid, each movement exaggerated as he retrieved what he had been saving for this precise moment. He had known it would come…exactly as he had planned. All the chips were falling neatly into place.
He held out the saw to Teru, whose quivering hand reached out. He could barely manage to grasp it, trembling fingertips of his still good hand imbued with the fear and anxiety that was by now running in excess through his body. Each breath was dreading. One hand poised the saw above his left thigh. His other hand hung uselessly by his side. Light gave a thoughtful pause before kneeling next to the sky clad, sweating, and shaking male. One of his hands joined on the handle of the saw. Their skin touched.
For…
God.
A scream.
He could only screech like an animal at the mind-numbing pain. The blades gnawed hungrily into his flesh guided by both his own and Light's hand. Blood began to drip down his leg as the saw moved steadily through muscle and skin and eventually to bone. Teru was simply incoherent, shrilly noises escaping his mouth which was frozen in an "O" shape. Tears streamed down his face, pouring like a broken faucet. Blood seeped from the wound, staining the pristine white carpet. Teru shook his head violently back and forth as the steady motion of his hand continued, though the driving force was mostly provided by Light.
The pain was unbelievable. Beyond anything he had ever felt. Beyond anything any human should be made to feel. He tried to speak, only finding a flood of screams, shrieks, and inhuman noises. Light reached out with one hand and petted his hair, smiling as he did so. There were flecks of blood on his face as he stroked Teru's head fondly. "Teru, Teru, Teru…" he said, hardly audible over Teru himself.
He drew back the saw, Mikami's hand sliding off the handle. "I'll need something…better to saw through the bone…" Light smiled. "I came prepared, Teru."
He left momentarily.
Teru could only lay on the floor, eyes filmed with pain as he clutched the carpet, fingers not able to keep a steady grasp upon on it. His teeth sliced into his lip so that blood streaked down his face, but it could do little to dim the fresh pain that came in racking waves across all his senses. He glanced down at the wound, only finding the extreme urge to double over. There was the flesh, cut messily with bits of skin and muscle showing. He also caught a peek of bone. His entire body shook beyond belief, finding it hard to breathe correctly.
Light came back, finding Teru a convulsing mess upon the floor. "Look at you! You bloodied up your pretty face." He shook his head, chastising the bleeding man. He then took a chainsaw from where he had set it down, starting it up. The engine whirred and hummed loudly as Light approached. Teru's eyes widened to an unimaginable size, swelling up with disbelief.
All thoughts of piety and God had faded; he was now but a human, desperate to get away. He tried to haul his body along the carpet, but Light only inclined his head, speeding up his pace and giving his disciple a reprimanding look. The sharp blades let out a buzzing, crowing louder as the hungry metal neared Teru's inured appendage. "M-m…" Light's faithful servant tried to form words from his trembling, stained lips "M....mer-mer…cy…" He begged, all but drowned out by the machinery that was nearly upon him, guided by Light.
"Well…how about a dose of reality?" Light said raising his voice so what he was saying could be perceived well and clear. "God offers no mercy."
A psychotic look swirled in those deep caramel orbs mixed with his twisted amusement. He brought the saw down, lowering it towards the already mangled skin. It made contact, a sickening noise of bone and metal grinding against one another. Red substance was splattered across the insistent face of Light as well as all over Teru, his chest dripping with adjacent droplets of gore, painting abstract art over the carpet and the two bodies, one writhing, the other teeming with unholy bemusement.
The chainsaw sheared cleanly through the pulp of Teru's thigh like a steak. His hollering blending in a manic melody with the sound of the saw. It did not take long for the saw to effectively sluice through both bone and skin, what was once wired together by intricate veins and anatomy was now separate. A stump with bone peeking out was all that was left, blood continuing to ooze. Light tossed the limb behind him as if it was nothing,
Seeing Teru lying there, it got him so damn hard. His face contorted in faces of anguish, blood nearly dotting every place on his being. Speckled upon his manhood and smeared across his torso. A small stump signifying where there was once a leg. Light wanted to fuck his disciple until his own body was covered in red, the metallic taste like a maddening elixir upon his lips. He leaned forward; placing his lips upon Mikami's finding his mouth full of blood from biting down on his own tongue.
Light drew back, lips tainted red with a small string of saliva connecting the two.
Teru could not stop the tears and cascaded down his cheeks, mingling with the blood and sliding down from his cheeks. "Shhh, don't cry," Light cooed, brushing the tears away from Mikami's face with his thumb. "Does it hurt…?"
Teru quaked, an answer not entirely necessary. "God…" he managed to slide out from his lips.
"God, God, God," Light rolled his eyes, then focused them upon Mikami. "Do you want it to go away, renounce your worldly possessions, your worldly alliance to God to make it go away? Do you, hmm?"
"…No," Teru croaked out, shaking with his decision to endure. Still not able to be disillusioned in his belief that this was a test.
"Well, I have another game…"
Gently Light took up his other hand. "This little piggy went to the market…" he wiggled his pinky before secure a hand below the nail. With one swift movement, he ripped the nail from the flesh. A shriek. "This little piggy went home…" Another shrill call of pain. "This little piggy ate roast beef…"
"P-p-p-p-…" Teru stuttered uselessly. He spat out the blood that had accumulated in his mouth from gnawing his own tongue.
"This little piggy had none…"
All the veins in Teru's neck were visible.
"And this little piggy…"
Teru's last good finger twitched.
Light reached into his back pocket.
"Bled all the way home."
A knife glinted deviously in the candle light. Light brought it to his lips, tongue running over it, carefully so as not to slice the sensitive skin. He spun the salivated blade about him, humming a small melody to himself. His eyes rolled into the back of his head, a small, high giggling erupting in a burst from his tongue. It was a disturbed laughter, raising all the hairs on the back of Mikami's neck, whose teeth clattered together not from the cold but from fear. He couldn't take much more; he was slowly breaking and deteriorating into a mindless bleeding mass upon the carpet. The blade, it was indeed a pretty blade, was placed over his fingertip reverently, grinding down upon the skin and causing little droplets of blood to fall in a neat dot upon the pale carpet below. Teru could make hardly any noise save for the hollow racket of his teeth banging periodically against each other.
"STOP!" Mikami screeched high as a woman when the blade sluiced through his flesh. Light was feeling so strong, so above this man. Like he had all the power and Teru beneath him had none at all. As if he was as lowly as a worm that inched about in the dirt and not a living, breathing human being.
"But we're having such a good time!" Light chorused, watching as the fingertip fell onto the carpet. He took Teru's chin in his hands, physically able to feel his top set of teeth beating upon the other. "Shhh," he hummed, head tilting and eyes widening in an innocent expression. "I can't make it go away if you don't smile." There was so much elation drawn from his failed attempts to smile. For now, this abuse would stave off the boredom that had once more filled Light. Now he was enraptured by the bloody carnage he was causing upon this sole human.
Fingers stroked against Teru's member. "You can't smile for God?" he asked, running his fingers up and down the organ. "Not for me?"
It took a Herculean effort in order for Mikami to pull his lips up at the corners.
"Show me your teeth," Light commanded.
Teru attempted to widen his smile, only to fail. He tried again, only to find that his teeth could not comply. Light frowned, his hand sliding from Teru's member and onto his cheek. He drew it back then brought it down forcefully. Teru let out a whoosh of breath. "You were nervous that I…" Light's knee went in between Mikami's legs. "Would relieve you of your manhood? You have served me so well…I would not be so cruel, darling Teru-kun unless you forced me to be. Spare the rod and spoil the child."
Teru felt as though he should say "I am not a child, I am a grown man." However this notion was lost, as he still could not find the will to speak at all or the will to speak out against God. The pain by now came in floods of colors, tinged with hot layers of anguish and agony. Yellow, red, orange…they flashed across his vision in strobes of hues making a beautiful yet regrettably unbearable show.
"You have no idea how much your screams turn me on…" Light stated. "It should almost be criminal. Then again I need something these days to get me hard, L is no more.
I loved the competition that Kira presented. I loved how much it challenged me, and allowed me to use my mind as it so deserved…To flex my intellectual fingers and glance over my shoulder every step I made. There was nothing more pleasing…I could find no other way to find that kind of solace as I did in a duel to the death. The duel ended, and I stood the victor. But what then? Rule of the incompetent masses as a God, just as I had envisioned? There was no longer any matter of life or death…just simply the boredom that had once driven me to near insanity, a genius whose perfect surface was on the brink of cracking.
Of course with the constant insanity licking at my mind, I had visions. Visions of L splayed underneath me whilst I sliced the tenderness of his flesh. While he screamed I laughed, while he bled, I reveled. I could never act out these fantasies, as I had a role to keep up. A visage in which I was supposed to keep. But now…I have you. The most loyal follower anyone could hope for. And sitting here, so bored it's driving me off the cliff of sanity, I can see those images clearly again. And I realized it was no longer L beneath me, but you. The same hair, the same pale skin. And it got me so damn hard right then and there.
Now you just need a haircut, and you could be my L. My L!" Light's face was crazed as the knife went down to chop away at Mikami's neatly cut locks. He cut crudely with the knife, grinning as it reached the same length that L's had been. Light's hands ruffled the now much shorter hair, watching with sick pleasure as they fell into a familiar style, strands of ebony hair raining down.
"And now…I can take your life, his life, as I had always fantasized."
Light pushed Teru down onto the carpet, his face pressed uncomfortably into the blood spattered flooring. Light traced the blade up and down the flesh of his back. He then stood, once more retreating to his arsenal of tools.
'So that is what I am being used for…Nothing but an actor for Light…so be it. I have lived as I have wanted, and I will die by God's hand. I can only acknowledge that I will not be dying to him as Mikami Teru, but as the infamous L whom I have never met…'
Light emerged with an impressive looking sword, bells jingling as they dangled from the hilt. Tears streaked Teru's face. Light brought the sword back, the deranged smile staying constant on his features, a small tinkling as pulled the sword up, poised over Teru's neck.
'I can…hear the bells…'
…
A sickening noise.
Pooling blood.
Silence.