The last thing Light saw on Earth was the lights hanging from the ceiling inside an abandoned warehouse, now he was looking up at a dull and dimly lit cave. Light sat up feeling his chest where the bullet wounds were, but how there was nothing; no blood, no pain, not even heat coming off of his skin.
"Where am I?" he asked himself out loud
"Shhh!" someone hissed
Light quickly turned his head toward the sound, but there was no one around, just darkness where the dim light couldn't reach.
"Whose there?" Light asked the open air
"SHHH!" the sound came louder and closer
"Why? Come out into the light?" Light coaxed
A figure began to slowly crawl its way into the light. They appeared to be human, but a dying and starved human.
"What are you?" Light asked narrowing his eyes
"You need to lower your voice!" the creature hissed
"Why? Who else is here?" Light started craning his neck to look around
"No one… yet." The creature cowered, "My name was Cain, but now I'm just called 'servant' or 'creature'."
"What is this place?" Light asked side eyeing Cain
"The realm of the Reapers." Cain replied in a whispered tone as if he just said something bad
"Reapers?" Light questioned
"You know the harbingers of death, you die they come and deliver your soul to its afterlife. Norse mythologies called them Valkyries." Cain explained
"So like a shimigami?" Light asked confused
"No worse. Shimigami's got lazy and they don't do anything anymore unless they need to extent their lives. Reapers they scour the world taking thousands of souls a day. They follow people around and watch their life clocks tick down to zero, then they let them die the death they were destined for and then take their souls. They only do it for their pleasure, they don't need expand their lives, they just like watching people die." Cain said still cowering
"I don't see how that is worse." Light said starting to think Cain was crazy, "What's wrong with you? You look sick."
"Get used to it kid because soon you'll look just as bad. You'll see; you'll see what they are really like. Then you'll understand why you must hide and keep quiet." Cain said and stared to slump back into the shadows.
Suddenly there was the sound of wings flapping coming from the cave entrance. It sounded like a flock of large birds of prey were landing.
"They're here, they are looking for servants. You must hide! They'll be looking for the new comers!" Cain hissed and disappeared inside the shadows.
Light wasn't afraid; why should he be? He knew he was already dead, what is left that these reapers could do? Two tall figures entered the cave, Light crouched behind a rock and watched them, studied them. They appeared to be very tall, almost as tall as Ryuk was when he stood up straight. They had large wings on their backs, they resembled bird wings and the feathers drug all the way to the ground. It looked like the two that entered the cave we males; they were wearing black pants and combat style boots, but no shirt. The wings probably made it hard to put on any kind of shirt, but who would want to wear one when you were as built and defined as they were. Flying must be a real workout because both men didn't look like they had half a percent of body fat on them.
"I know he's here somewhere. He's too stupid to find another hiding spot." One of the men said looking around in the dark. He had brown and white feathers; it reminded Light of a falcon's markings
"Come on Cain! We have some things that need cleaning and those little hands of yours are the only ones that can reach." The second man called out. He had silvery grey wings; they looked like a pelicans.
"Stop worrying about your stupid little creature. He's not the one we are looking for anyways." A female's voice came echoing in the cave.
She strolled in to the cave carrying herself like a queen. Once she stepped into the light, Light noticed the gleaming metal wings. There was hardly any light coming into the cave, but what was reflecting off of her wings illuminated the cave walls. She was tall, well at least taller than Light, she was still shorter than the two men. She had long nearly white silvery hair, but her eyes, her eyes were pitch black. She didn't have any white showing; you couldn't tell where she was looking because you couldn't see the movement. She however was wearing a top to cover her breasts, but it looked like a piece of cloth that fit like strapless bra, just enough to cover her breasts, but exposing her shoulders and flat stomach. She was dressed in black skin tight pants, and a white top, and dark grey boots.
"Ahh, there's the little creature." One of the men called and picked up Cain by his raggedy shirt.
They all turned to where Cain was now hanging several feet off the ground in the grip and the tall brown winged man. They had their backs to Light and he noticed that the two men have what look like tridents on their backs hanging from slings. The woman however had a long great sword running down the length of her spine also held by a sling.
"Where's the new one, creature?" The woman said coldly
Cain didn't say anything, he just tried to make himself as small as possible bring his knees to his chest and ducking his head.
"Now creature, don't make this harder than it needs to be. We know he is around here somewhere, so just answer the question and we won't have to punish you." The second man said and started reaching for his trident.
Cain began squealing in fright and thrashing making him swing around still being held by the first man.
"Put it down." The woman commanded
The first man obliged without hesitation dropping Cain from the height he was holding him from. Cain fell to the floor in a painful smack, and quickly began to scoot back until he found the cave wall. The woman gracefully walked to Cain; no expression playing on her face.
"Creature, I know he is here somewhere. You never hesitate to spill information about the other servants, but this one is new, and you still have hope for him don't you." The woman bent down and was crouching in front of Cain
Cain began to slowly nod his head agreeing to what she had said, "I know you think we are going to hurt him, but I have other plans. I want to train him, just as we had hoped to train you until we realized how weak you really were. So Cain, where is Light Yagami? Where is Kira?" the woman put a large hand on the wall next to Cain's face.
Cain pointed a boney finger in the direction where Light was watching behind a rock. The two men smiled slyly, but the woman remained passive and nodded. "Thank you Cain. I'll make sure these two aren't too hard on you this time." She stood up and began slowly walking in the direction Cain had pointed.
The silver winged man picked up Cain and threw him out the cave entrance like he was a discarded toy. Both of the men left the cave, and the woman stopped in the middle of the cave staring directly at the rock Light was hiding behind.
"I know you're behind there Kira." She said calmly still staring at the rock. "Or I can call you Light if you'd prefer."
Light slowly stood so the woman could see him. Now that he was standing he noticed how tall she was, if he was lucky he might be able to be eye level with her breasts.
"Step out into the light." She said watching him with interest
Light warily made his way around the rock and into the light a few feet away from her.
"Do you know where you are Light?" She asked but it sounded like she already knew the answer to her own question
"The Reaper realm." Light muttered barely audible
"That is correct. Do you know what I am?" She nodded
"A Reaper." Light answered
"You're partly correct, but that is something to explain later. Come." She started walking towards the cave entrance, but Light didn't follow.
"Light we can do this the hard way or the easy way, it is your choice." She said but never turned around, she continued out of the cave disappearing into the light.
Light stood for a moment weighing his options, but seeing as though there weren't many he started towards the entrance. Light stepped outside and quickly shielded his eyes from the bright light. Once his eyes adjusted he noticed the woman standing at the edge of a cliff that over looked fields of grass and groves of tree's.
"Not what you were expecting for a realm of creatures who essentially are the harbingers of death?" She asked looking out onto the field.
Light slowly walked over to stand next to her, "What is going on? What do you want with me? Why am I here?"
"You're full of questions aren't you?" She gave half of a smile, "All in good time Light. Lucky for you that is all you have now, time. It's up to you how you want to use that time. Follow me or don't, you decide your fate from here." She shrugged.
Her metal wings unfolded and spread out showing their long length and the metal clinked and it almost sounded musical. She flapped them a few times and jumped off the cliff soaring down to the next ledge.
"There is a trail to your right; it leads you to a fork. You'll know what to decide from there. I hope to see you soon Light Yagami." She barely yelled and flew away disappearing in the sun light.
"What the hell is going on here? Decide my fate? I'm already dead what is there to decide?" Light muttered to himself and began walking in the direction the woman said.
For being a realm of Reapers it was surprisingly bright and warm. Most people think of Reapers as cold and dark, but there were flowers and trees everywhere. There didn't seem to be bugs or weeds, it was like a perfect garden. Light found the fork in the road that the woman and mentioned and there were two signs; Reapers a sign pointed to the right path and Servants pointed to the left path. After seeing the state Cain was in Light decided that the best option was to go to the right. The decision was easy and logical and Light quickly began down the path. Light didn't walk long before coming to a small village where there groups of people with large wings on their backs and various weapons in slings hanging from their sides or on their backs. Light walked further into the village and soon everyone was staring at him whispering.
"So you made the obvious choice." Said a voice
Light turned around and saw the same woman from the cave standing with her sword in front of her, tip dug into the dirt.
"I have high hopes for you Light Yagami, you kept many us busy during your time on Earth when you had that Death Note." The corners of her mouth turn up slightly "I personally was cheering for you, humans are vile and out of control, but you had a pure vision that people didn't understand. Which is why I wanted you here, I fought for you to be given a chance here. Many of the other realms were against it thinking that you be stuck in the Vail or put in Purgatory with the rest of the lost souls or monsters, but I wanted to give you a chance to continue your vision." She began circling Light with her sword on her shoulder. "Light Yagami, Kira, I want you to become a Reaper, but not just any Reaper. A Reaper like me; one of the few that get to go around earth and other realms taking souls of those who, for lack of a better word, deserve it." Now she was smiling exposing perfectly straight and brilliantly white teeth, but the canines were slightly longer than the rest and more pointed than usual.
She stood in front of light waiting for an answer, looking down at Light with a burning heat that made Light uncomfortable.
"How about I show you exactly what I do? Maybe that'll convince you to give this whole Reaping thing a try." She said and slid the sword back behind her and put it in its sling.
"I don't know your name. Why should I go with you if I don't know you?" Light questioned taking a step back
"Again with the questions." She sighed, "My name is Bryn, and that is all I will tell you at this point. I will answer your questions once you decide. If you don't want to come then you must decide now, and if you decline the offer then I send you to the Vail and you live your eternity lost and in pain."
"Show me." Light replied trying to hide his fear of the unknown.
"Good, follow me." Bryn motioned and started to walk towards a large building at the heart of the village.
"I think you'll like where we are going." Bryn said as she opened a large door, "Since you can't fly and I can't exactly carry you everywhere we'll have to travel through the portal." Bryn continued through a large hall and to a large golden mirror.
"I imagine you know the old tales that mirrors were once believed to be the gateways into the next life or what kept the phantasmal beings out of the human world. It's, for the most part, true. We are going to visit an old friend of yours." She said and moved her hand to touch the golden mirror. It ripped under her touch and soon the neighborhood Light used to live in with Misa was visible. "Just walk through it." She said and stepped in.
Light hesitated for a moment before taking a step into the mirror. He came out the other side as if there was nothing in between the mirror and the world he was now in. Light turned around expecting to see the hall behind him, but instead it was just a street and cars.
"How do we get back?" Light started to ask, but at the moment he opened his mouth a man was about to walk into him, but instead of colliding the man simply walked through Light. The man gave a slight shudder but kept walking.
"Don't worry about getting back just yet. You're technically a ghost, people can't see you, they walk through you, but you'll give them a serious case of the chills for a while." Bryn said with straight face looking down to Light, "That little Misa doesn't have any papers of a Death Note does she?"
"Why can you ask questions and I can't?" Light asked annoyed, "No she doesn't, I made her give up ownership and now that I'm dead she shouldn't have any memories of it."
"Good." Bryn started walking down the street
"Why are they walking through you? It's like they are walking around you." Light asked watching people moving around them
"Because I'm death, the soul has an automatic reaction to avoid death, they don't notice it but they avoid anything that is death. They can't see me it just a natural reaction for them. If I touch them then they die." Bryn answered annoyed
They continued in silence for a while, Light was taking in the familiarity of his surroundings, he didn't know when the next time he would be here.
"How long has it been since my death?" Light asked he didn't care if it annoyed Bryn
"In this point in time it's been about a month." Bryn answered but the question didn't seem to bother her so Light decided to ask another.
"So you don't follow a certain time line?" He asked picking up his pace
"No." She said curtly and then sighed, "Time is not a definite line for us, we can move around the time continuum freely. We can go thousands of years into the future, we can go back but we can't kill those who aren't supposed to die. We don't mess with fixed point in time. Time is a like a tangled fishing line, all the points that are untangled are the past, a straight line. You can go back to it but if you start messing with it, it gets tangled again and affects the rest of the line. The future is the tangles you still need to work on, you can pick a spot and work the knots, but there is always more to work out so it really doesn't matter where you start. If that makes any sense." Bryn looked down at Light.
"I understand." Light replied and thought over her comparison.
They continued and stopped in front of the apartment building where Light used to live at.
"I watched you for a long time Light, especially when your life time clock was finally visible. I grew to really hate Misa, I found her childish and immature. Today is her day to die; I thought you like to see it." Bryn said confidently and looked up at the building
Light smiled, and he felt the part of him that was still Kira come back front and center. Light wanted to dispose of Misa a long time ago, and now he was finally getting to do just that. Maybe this whole Reaper thing would be a good thing to become in his next life.