Working Together & The Game Begins

AN: Thank you to Metaphors and Miracles, who gave me some writing tips. I changed the prologue and hope I could use them in a way, you imagined =)

Now on with chapter 1

Sorry for the long wait…

„_-san, how is your condition?"

„What…?", for a moment I was dumbstruck. How could L possibly know about it? I hesitated but then decided to ask: „How do you know-"

„According to the data of the FBI you are currently on a mission of security level A. Furthermore, at the place your mobile phone was located, I also found the presence of a dangerous individual. You didn't move for two hours and 53 minutes, which leads me to presume that you have been hurt and lost consciousness. After all, this location is not a place, most people would choose for napping", explained L the obvious.

Of course. Why did I ask in the first place?

The synthetic voice spoke on: „A thermal imager detected no changes in your body temperature, therefore you haven't been injured in a fatal way. Nor did you suffer from too much blood loss. So you were never in a state of real emergency."

I was unsure weather my brain could take in all that information. With the vague hope that my headache would disappear, I led pointing- and middle finger to my temples and began to massage them. I tried to stay focused and asked: „Who is that ‚dangerous individual' you mentioned earlier?"

„He operates under the synonym ‚G'. His objectives are still unknown to me, but his actions leave me with no doubts, that he poses a great threat and must be stopped. _-san, for this purpose I need your help."

My help? I wondered why L thought that I – of all people – would be able to assist him. Sure I gave it my all as an FBI agent but regardless, there were for sure agents who were better then I was. But if there was really a way for me to help, I would gladly do so. Why I thought that way, I didn't know. Maybe because I was secretly unsure wether or not I was suited for my job and wanted to prove myself. „What is it you need me to do?", I asked, determinded. „_-san, what do you remember about the events of this night?"

I closed my eyes but no pictures of the last 24 hours appeared in my head. „Sadly I don't recall anything. The last day seemes to have completely vanished." L went on: „_-san, the warehouse in which you are at this moment, please take a look around and note everything that seemes unusual to you."

„Unusual? In what way?"

„You'll know what I mean, when you see it", with this unclear statement I started to investigate the scenery. I didn't have a flashlight with me, so I used the light that my phone provided me with to guid me. It wasn't much, but it needed to be enough.

„_-san, please be careful. There is a possibility that a bomb has been installed in this building." I walked through the door and as if L's words had served as a bad omen, I heard a inauspicious noise just at the very moment I reached the other room. I was on the lookout for the source of that irritating sound and soon found it.

In my taining at the FBI I was tought the basic knowledge of ‚how to defuse a bomb'. But this model right infront of me was different than anything I've ever seen before. Maybe that was my luck though, because I didn't have any tools with me that could be useful for the task at hand (in general I had nothing with me. I had been on a mission before I woke up. Where did everything go? My whole situation was more than just strange).

„It is different", I muttered. „_-san, can you describe what you see?", L's voice asked. „There is an input field attached on the bomb that shows various symbols. The timer is running and it's down to 6:43 minutes now", I took a closer look on the symbols, „the keys are confusing me. Does this mean…?"

„Yes. It is a game. You are given the chance to win." The connection seemed to get worse. I was barely able to understand the last sentence that the detective had spoken to me.

„A game? Why?"

„For G everything is a game."

A consistant noise, that had similarities with the sound that running water produces, became the backround of our conversation. „A dis-", now I only could hear fragmences of what the synthetic voice tried to tell me.

„I will-"

„source of-"

„interf-"

„_-san, please-"

„carefu-"

Silence.

That was all that my phone let me hear now. The noice was gone. Likewise was the voice of the detective. I was on my own.

So a game. Or a test?

6 minutes and 43 seconds… Wait, it took me a while to find the bomb but the time limit that was given to me… maybe 7:00 minutes? A reference to the seventh letter of the alphabet? Or did I think too much? Did I see a connection where there was none?

It didn't matter. Not now. At the moment the most important thing was to prevent the bomb from blowing up. I took a look around. Were there any symbols on the wall? A hidden hint in the room? I looked at the keys again.

Full moon, crescent, waning crescent and increasing moon.

Then I sprinted back into the chamber I had woken up earlier. If I was truly given a chance to win this game, the key for winning had to be close. I illuminated the walls, the ground. There! Some words were written on the ground. Right at the spot I was lying before. Was this blood? Or just red color? Unimportant. I read what the letters said:

‚Sometimes empty,

sometimes full.

Sometimes silent,

sometimes growling.

It eats and drinks,

but an animal it is not.'

A riddle? But how could solving it help me to find out the right order of the moons?

„Empty… full", I whispered as I walked back into the other room to check how much time I had left, „eats and drinks…"

5:13

Five minutes were remaining.

I starred at my phone. It was sitll black. Probably the activation of the bomb was also responsible for the malfunction of that device somehow. Had G known that L would try to contact me? Was it his intention to interrupt our communication? Was this a test that he had created just for me? But for what reason?

There were too many unanswered questions in my head. I needed to concentrate.

But there was another thing that was bothering me. What if the voice that had called me earlier was not the one of the great detective? What if someone used his name for his own sick purpose? No, there was no way someone would do that. A few people had tried to misuse the 12th letter for themselves but the results were awful. At least if you belived the rumors. Nobody would dare to claim Ls title for himself.

Naomi had already worked together with the voice. This was exactly the way he operated. To be honest I didn't really doubt, that the person calling himself L was indeed the one he claimed to be. I belived he told the truth. And I trusted my instincts in that matter. After all, I didn't really have a choice, did I?

So instead of asking myself more questions, I focused on the riddle that was given to me.

Empty

Full

Silent

Growling

Eating and drinking

But no animal

What could that be?

AN: sorry for the cliffhanger ^^ but can you find out what the riddle means and how it is connected to the symbols?

Thanks for reading =)

Reviews would make me really happy ^_^

Please feel free to leave some critique.

Please tell me wether you'd like this story to continue. Since it isn't written in my first language I don't know if my writing is good enough for you to want me to continue ^^°

I try my best though =)

All the best,

Dream