"Light? Light! Are you awake?"

Light groaned. Shifted. Blinked. Something blinding crashed into his eyes, and they flinched shut.

Where was he? It was quiet, except for the voice (which he couldn't quite place). Was he at at home? Still in class? Maybe he had passed out, but… The last thing he remembered was his Dad, and the street and- Oh shit!

But- he didn't feel pain. Just a strange numbness pervading him. Like floating.

"Hello? Light?"

Light flinched. His ears felt so sensitive now…

"Hi…" His voice felt weak. Unuseable, and dry. Like a bristle brush had been scrubbed over it till it bled raw. "Where am I?"

"Why don't you open your eyes and see. I promise that everything will be explained."

Light didn't particularly like their tone of voice, half teasing yet patronizing, but he slowly obliged. A low gasp left him as he took in the room.

It was… alien. He couldn't quite place why, but something felt decidedly off. Otherworldly. A strange, crystalline element coated what would have been pure white walls. To his left lay large windows, displaying a scene completely other to him. Tall grass, dark blue in hue, waved across what looked to be a field. Off in the distance, he spied black and dark blue buildings rising into the purply skyline.

Where was he? Perhaps it was only his imagination, some strange hallucination brought to him while he lay in some hospital in a coma. He had been hit by a car. Hadn't he?

Light shifted from where he was lying, and looked down with a soft gasp. His clothes from before, his favorite long coat and the button down and khakis that he usually wore, were gone. In their place, Light was clothed in a soft blue robe, the hems threaded with silver. Brushing his hand against his chest, he realized some sort of binder had been placed on him.

"What is this? Did you-" His voice began to rise before the man cut him off.

"You arrived wearing that, Light."

Light glanced up at the intrusion of the voice.

The man standing before him was rather tall, a good head above his 1.67 meters. He wore a robe similar to the one Light was wearing; it was a darker, more midnight blue, with silver specks that glittered like tiny stars.

His features were rather plain, the kind of face that would blend into a crowd easily, despite the rather silvery cast to his skin, except… his eyes. They were large, a dark blue like the rest of the strange world around Light, and they were endless. Light caught the feeling that he could stare into his eyes, forever searching, and find nothing.

"Who are you? A-and how do you know my name?" He asked quietly.

The man smiled. A kind, friendly smile, that reminded Light of Matsuda from before. Something warm burned in his stomach, but he pushed it down. "I'm here to be your guard, Light. L sent me. He is the one who told me your name."

"L?" A letter for a name? Something about the way the man spoke it made Light shiver with unease. "And what do you mean by 'arrived'?"

"Look down." The same warm smile stretched across his face.

Light looked. A large circle broke the monotony of the white floor. Made of blue marble, a swirled silver star stretched across the center, right where he sat.

"It's a portal." The man supplied. "You arrived through the portal. Just as L said you would."

"Again, who is L?" Light tried to remain calm.

"Our leader. Our King. Our God. L is L." A certain reverence had entered the man's tone, even more so than before. "He brought you here."

"Why?" Light's voice was hard.

"Because you are his husband, Light. Our god-king."

When Light next awoke, his body still shaken and shuddering from panic, he was in the strange man's arms. His hands were decidedly soft as he stroked him. So gentle, too. Like the softest caress of wings against his skin.

"How are you feeling?" The words brushed tenderly at his ear.

"F-fine now, I suppose. P-please stop touching me." He whispered. All the air had been sucked out of him.

"Of course." The man nodded, smiling kindly before setting him on the floor, taking care to only let go once Light assured him that he was braced enough to stay upright.

"I never did get your name?"

The man let out something close to a laugh. "No you did not. You may call me Taji."

Internally, Light paused. "Taji" was a surname, yet he didn't want to probe further.

"So, how am I a… God? I think I would have known that, all things considered." Light tried to chuckle, to keep his tone light.

A strange smile crept across his face. "L has never been wrong before."

Light nodded, fighting back on the shiver that crept down his spine. "And you called me his husband? How is that possible, considering I've never met him?"

Taji nodded. "Well, husband-to-be, I should have said. You are his betrothed."

"How?"

"L is never wrong. He knew when he saw you. When he saved you."

"S-saved me?"

"He said you were in an accident. That you were hit by something. A car, was it? Nasty devices, aren't they?"

Light stared numbly back. "I suppose so, but how could he have known?"

"I believe it may be more fruitful if I escorted you to L. He holds the answers to any questions you may have, I assure you." Taji bent down, close to Light's level, and proffered his arm.

Reluctantly, Light took it.

As Taji lead Light out from the strange room, the "reception area" as he called it (Light made a mental note to question Taji about it later… if a whole area was dedicated to it, there must be others), Light couldn't help but marvel at the sights around him. The halls were long, cut from pearly white stones and accented by alternating tiles of blue and soft grey on the floor. Long, curtainless windows lined the walls, allowing Light to glimpse the outside. More grass, thicker and almost glowing against the dark background of the sky, sprang from the ground, with the unlit buildings stretching long into the darkness. Pale moonlight was the only source of lighting, bathing the whole scene in a quiet, calm radiance of silver.

"It's beautiful, out there. But why is it so dark? It was only evening when… well, you know."

Taji looked back at him, head tilted and eyes slanted curiously. "It's quite bright out, for this time of day. And… what is an evening, exactly?"

Light blinked. Surely he must know, unless… "Is it always this dark out?"

"Well, no, not exactly. When the moon is in their waning phase, they don't shine as brightly as they do now. But, the moon chooses to shine equally down on us here. L likes it that way. But," Now, a playful smirk entered his tone, "You never did tell me what an evening was."

Light smiled. Somehow, the pit in his stomach had seemed to lessen. "Well, back where I come from, along with the moon is a sun. And as where I live rotates on its axis, it's exposed to the sun for around half of the day, and the sky turns a nice, light blue. Evening is when the earth starts to tilt away from the sun, and the moon becomes visible and the sky darker."

"Ahhh…" Taji smiled. "I do believe the others have told me about that. Well, the sun, at the very least. Young Mello misses it dearly."

"The others? Mello? So there are other people here who are from where I'm from?"

"Yes. … Just three. Mello, Near, and Matt. L's, and now I suppose your, children."

"My children? I don't have children?!" The same shortness of breath from before had started to creep back, and Light forced himself to stop, hand grasping Taji for support, as he drew in a deeper breath.

Taji squeezed his arm before continuing. "You are to be wed to L, remember? His children shall become yours."

"B-but I'm not old enough for kids! I'm not old enough to be married, either!" Breathing was hard now, clashing and gasping against his ribs and-

"Shh, Light. Just take deep breaths. In and out." He was back in Taji's arms. Taji's rather warm arms, that smelled like cinnamon mixed with cumin and-

He shook the thought off. Shook himself off. Took in two deep, near gasping breathes. And stood, quickly disentangling himself from Taji's… tender hold. "May we discuss this later?"

"Of course. In fact, I'm sure that L will grant you a settling in period, of sorts. This is rather much to force onto someone all at once."

"Thank you."

"Shall we go, then?" Taji's arm was again held out for Light to take.

"Yes, I suppose that would be best." Light grasped it gingerly, choosing not to dwell on how… pleasant it felt when Taji's hand snaked up to rest on his back as he guided him forward.

The rest of the hallways were the same as the first, with long windows showing more grass and far off buildings, pale moonlight pooling through the windows.

As they neared the end of what seemed to be their hundredth hallway, Light saw a door. It loomed over the hall, made of what seemed to be a dark, blackish wood, again highlighted by serpentine trails of silver gilding around its edges. A single knob stood sentinel over the door, molded into a large eye, a huge, gleaming sapphire adorning the "iris".

"Beyond this is L's throne room."

Light smiled tight-lipped back at Taji, waiting, his breath half-caught in his chest as he tried not to tremble.

Taji knocked on the door once. Twice. His fingers slipped around the knob and the door swung open.

"Light. I've been expecting you."