A/N:Congrats to Alla Vita, my first reviewer, who guessed one of the people in the orbs right! (I won't say who XD) And thanks to the same reader for giving me my first review! Here is Chapter 1 for you!

Disclaimer: View previous chapter :)


Extrico Umbra

'Where... is this place?' His eyes opened to see only darkness, no light penetrating the liquid shadows. He was surrounded, caged, blanketed by the darkness completely and yet did not feel threatened in any way. There was no comfort, yet there was also no fear.

It was only... nothingness.

'Strange...' he spoke aloud, though no sound came from his lips. He could not tell what was up, or what was down for a moment, though it seemed as though he was laying on his back. He sat up, if that was what you called it, since to him, such titles were unknown. He did not know this place, he did not even know himself.

'Who am I? Or rather, who was I perhaps?' Such a puzzling question, to which he found no answer. He found that he had four limbs, two below, and two higher up. The former could bend but not move as easily as the latter, and lacked the lengthened smaller limbs that could move more easily and came from its central point.

'Hand.' The name was familiar, and though he seemed to know that it belonged to this strange part of his body, he held no understanding. To pass the time, if there was such a thing where he now resided, he tried to name as many things as he could.

'Fingers, ten of them as well as ten toes. Two feet, as per the standard for humans, two eyes, knees, nails, eyelashes -such a curious one- and...' He continued for some time, and found he could name every part of this thing, this... body that was he.

'But.. who is 'me'?' he wondered. 'I can't remember anything. Not a name, not a face. No family or friends, relatives, enemies, or acquaintances.' Strangely enough, he found such things fascinating, his brilliant mind toiling over every aspect of such things.

But, this couldn't satisfy him for long.

He wanted to know if this pace truly was empty. Was he really...alone? He sat up and automatically crouched down low, elbows resting over his knees. The position came automatically, he had no idea why... but it felt comfortable.

For a moment, he simply sat, watching... waiting. Then, all at once, it happened. He wasn't alone anymore, surrounded by nothingness. Something began to appear. Slowly at first, one by one, objects took shape.

'Orbs.' He knew the title but not its meaning once more, as large black spheres began to take tangible form. "Sphere, ball..." One by one, in large clusters, they became transparent, revealing inside...

People. Thousands of them, if not more. Each one looking different, and all of them curled up or lying down, their eyes closed and bodies unmoving. He didn't understand, were they all sleeping? Weren't any of them awake as he was?

He called out once, but no effect was achieved. So, he decided to examine these creatures that were akin to himself. There were those that were just like him, taller and usually broader, often with shorter hair. Then there were others, more slender, longer strands atop their heads, body curves more defined.

'Male and female.' He pronounced, the words easily found. They were all wearing thin, silken garments. Simple strips of fabric wrapped around their waists and, in the case of the females, around their chests. The fabrics ranged in colors from pure white to a dark gray, bordering on black.

He began to pick out and sort people by the color gradient in these cloths, for the only other differences he could make out under the dull hair and pale skin, were the hair styles and lengths. Those, however, were of no interest to him.

Most of the people had cloths of the same hue as he found himself wearing. It was gray, not too dark, but certainly not white. Pale would have been an accurate term for the shade. Perhaps this was normal? Or at least the average... What fascinated him the most was that all of the smaller ones -'children' he had decided- were clad in a pure white, untarnished or touched, their swaths of cloths resembling long robes.

Perhaps, humans weren't all judged the same...

'Well.. what is this?' Another curiosity caught his attention. He noticed that many people were already set within groups. One set was small, but appeared to be similar in some way. A family perhaps? But others... others were clad in light gray all circled around a single person, or perhaps two, that were in that darkest gray he so rarely saw.

Why? Why were they surrounding something that somehow made him wary? He did not remember anything, yet this somehow he knew. Whoever this person was, they had somehow sinned. Perhaps those people around them were...

'Victims...' Yes the term sounded appropriate. There was a high probability factor that agreed with his theory, and he decided that his calculations were usually correct. For as many people as he could estimate were there, around 70% had a clothing hue that ranged through the mid grays. The next category would be those in white, 99% of which were children between 3 and 7, the entirety being a small 10%.

But as greatly as he enjoyed studying variables and equations, it felt for a moment as if a chill had gone through this empty space. He stood up once again, stretching nearly to his full hight, though he arched his back and shoulders somewhat, and slowly turned around.

He did not show any outward signs of surprise other than to raise an eyebrow. He himself was surrounded by others that were akin in a large circle, a single person contained within a sphere at the center.

'I...am another victim. Curious as I cannot remember why.' He continue to speak aloud. It was pointless but somehow comforting. He leaned in closer, slender fingers gently pressing against his obscure prison. He could see them, the one inside.

It was a male, like many others. Short brownish hair, curled in a ball with their arms around their knees. But this one.. was dressed entirely in black, no light coming from it at all. It was as if he and that which clothed him would blend with their tar-like surroundings.

But there was... something else. A person had left the circle, breaking free and filling in the gap that lay between predator and prey, an individual between two factions. He too held the same position, the same hair, but instead this one wore a light gray.

'Perhaps this... is of some kind of significance?' He asked himself, unconsciously putting his forefinger to his bottom lip in thought as he crouched once more. Perhaps if he had a better look, if only he could get closer... he could find out why these two intrigued him so.

He had no memories of anything since he had woken up in this dark place, but those two people seemed familiar to him... especially the one in black. Almost as if he knew them from a past time...

He wasn't simply going to stay in the dark, no pun intended. Perhaps, a few methods of deduction would permit him to find out what he could and could not do in this abyss. He stood up, pushing against the surface of his spherical prison.

'Sturdy, and completely inflexible... not likely to bend or be broken easily when faced with great pressure, therefore...' He took a step forward, still pushing against the sphere's edge, his back hunching over in a rather unusual manner.

Nothing significant appeared to happen. Perhaps everyone was to close for him to move... But then again... he had always been a bit childish in the fact that he refused to give up even if everyone else said he'd lost. When he had a theory, he planned to test it to the fullest.

'Curious... I can't say why I believe this to be true about myself since I can recall nothing to back up this theory, but perhaps that is how it should be.' He wouldn't let it go of course, but for the moment it was second priority. His next move was a little more, unorthodox... but maybe it would be effective.

So seeing as his little compartment actually gave him more room to move freely than it should have, he took a few shuffled steps back and with a kick start, rammed his shoulder against the side of the sphere.

Though it did leave his bare skin stinging, the desired effect was evident. He began to roll slightly. Getting back up, he did this once more, angling his agile body so as to navigate through the throng of trapped souls.

His shoulder began to throb once he was about half way through, but he ignored it. Apparently the force needed to roll not only his own body weight, but also the wait of the black sphere around him was greater than he had anticipated.

Eventually however, and with minimal physical damage, he made it to the spot he'd searched for. Just in front of him now, was the man in black, to the side... the one in gray. From up close, The darker one did not look to be very old... though age had no meaning here. The one that sat behind him also looked of similar chronology.

Both had short, light brown hair, though most of their faces were obscured due to their curled up position. There were, however, slight differences. The one in black held his knees in a more rigid manner, his back seeming tense. The one in light gray appeared to be at peace, relaxed. Both reactions were also displayed in the creases or lack thereof in their foreheads.

'I know these people... both of them... somehow.' he wanted to see more, but was trapped, the bubble's sides pressed against each other. This was as close as he would get. He needed to think, so crouched down low, biting the tip of his thumbnail slightly.

Perhaps... he was dreaming? Most unlikely as he rarely found time for proper sleep. His body had learned to cope, using the excess sugars for energy when necessary. Perhaps this was why he alone was not asleep like the others? He stared endlessly at the two men before him, trying to grasp what had been lost.

'A relative?' He wondered, going down a mental list. No that didn't sound right...

'Perhaps... a friend?' Yes.. that sounded familiar but... no that couldn't be right. He could think of the word 'friend' only when he saw the one in gray, the feeling disappearing the moment his gaze left. The man in black however, gave off a different feeling. Someone of great hate, power... a core of inner evil...

He put a hand to where the barriers touched, pressing gently with first his fingers then the rest of his hand.

'Someone to be feared... a friend... and enemy? Two sides of a coin perhaps?' Yes, it was beginning to sound right, though the expression was a curious thing. He felt like he could almost grasp the meaning behind this person. There was a... book... a black book. White letters, great pain and death... and a person... someone... behind it...

Why were these thoughts coming? They sounded so strange but the further he pushed the boundaries of his mind, the more he began to see.

His eyes opened wider, boundaries bending under his strain. 'A creature of death. That was it... it was a Shiniga-' Suddenly everything around him seemed to fade. He cut off, his eyes going wide, every sense he contained shattering in an instant. His body began to slump and he fell from his crouch, backwards onto his back.

Pain had shot through his chest as the image of a dark and gnarled looking creature appeared. There was only one eye visible, the other behind bandages. Long arms, vertebrate like spines along this creature's skin... a book in it's hand.

He could see several screens, all reading the same thing amongst a reddened hue that filled the room. He remembered his own words...

In case anything ever happened to him... ever happened to...

He couldn't breathe, he couldn't move, only stare wide-eyed as the darkness began to close in. He could remember this, from the last time... falling from a chair as something thin and silver slipped from his fingertips.

No wait... it wasn't darkness closing in this time... it was getting brighter. He suddenly felt, very warm. There was something else too, as he slowly closed his eyes. Brighter images began to come to mind... though he couldn't imagine why.

Was it possible... to die in a place like this?

And then, he suddenly remembered everything, just as he was about to fade. Those eyes, the face they belonged to split in a wicked smile, the true soul no longer hidden behind that flawless mask. He had felt no hope when he had first fallen to the unforgiving ground, and the moment he had witnessed the lapse in secrecy, any remaining hope had sunk past the floor onto which he fell.

He had lost his first true friend. No... he had never truly had such a friend... only a clever ruse that could fool even the world's greatest detective.

But something else had the place of his fallen hope. Could it have been... pride? Because he had been right. All along, after so much sacrifice, time, and calculations... he had been right. He had discovered who was the real Kira...

And he had died to discover the truth.

X X X


Extrico Umbra: Unraveling Shadow

A/N: Well that's good and done! Hopefully everyone knows who is shown here! If not... go re-watch ep 25! Chapter 3 should come soon, and this time we get to everyone in the human world! *trumpet blare* Anyways, If anyone (that means you Alla Vita!) is interested, I have another question to see if anyone can answer! Guess anywhere near it, and the winner will get a preview of chapter 2!

Q: What is happening to L at the very end of the chapter before and while he is seeing the bright light? And if you can't get that question... anyone have any idea what the symbolism is in the color differences of the cloths everyone is wearing?