A/N: Sorry that it's taken me so long to update! This story is kinda hard to write, 'cause I didn't think everything through. XD Oh well, I still like it! Since this story is a bit more difficult to write, the updates will probably be slower. However, I'll try to make up for that by having longer chapters! Is that okay?

Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note. D:

"Speaking."/"Speaking." (The italicized speaking is only in one section of this chapter. It may come back in later chapters, depending on what I decide to do. I'll tell you when that time comes.)

Thinking.

The voice in Michelle's head.

After L disappeared from sight completely, Michelle had begun to feel as if everything that he'd told her about herself was true. She sat down on the bed as she tried to think over her current situation. It's not possible, though, because the last thing I remember, I was an eighteen year old girl – no, woman, and I was going to sleep, same as always. So how did this happen? Is it really a dream?

She ran her hand over the silken sheets on the bed where she sat. No, these feel too real to be produced just by my mind...even in my most vivid dreams, I haven't been able to actually feel anything, aside from pain, and maybe the feeling of flight if I was lucky...

Groaning, she flopped onto the bed, and looked up at the white ceiling. At any rate, now I'm expected to become the successor to a boy I hardly know – and I don't even know what profession it's for, either. I barely know anything about this place, aside from its name and the fact that it's in England. Sure, I know that it's an orphanage, but why would I become the successor to a fellow orphan? Oh, this is all so confusing...

Michelle blinked in surprise when she heard another knock at the door. Had L returned? "Ah...come in!" she called out softly as she sat up.

The door flew open, and L reappeared before Michelle...only, there was something off about him. Sure, he looked the same as before, but this boy was wearing a black shirt, and he had socks on. Why did L change his clothes?

"So, you're the new successor, huh?" the boy asked. "The third in line?" On second thought, maybe it's not L... Michelle thought. L was the one who told me that I was a successor, so he wouldn't have asked about it again.

"Um...yes, that's me." Michelle replied, looking at him suspiciously. "Uh...wh-who are you?"

"I'm the first in line," the boy said, running his hands through his hair – that looked a lot like L's – and smirking. "They call me B here, but I would prefer it if you'd call me Beyond."

"O-okay," Michelle agreed, nodding.

"And what can I call you?" Beyond asked, crouching so that his eyes were level with hers. "Your hair is pretty dark, so should I call you my little raven?"

"You can if you want to..." she replied, twiddling her thumbs. "But my name is Mic–...um, I mean...my name is Lyric."

"Ah, that's the name you go by here." he said, nodding in understanding. Glancing at her, he said, "You know, for a successor, you look pretty young. How old are you, little raven?"

Michelle shrugged. "I dunno," she replied, "but I think they said that I'm four, or five..."

"Man, you're little." B whispered, mostly to himself. "They'll eat you alive here."

"Huh?"

"Nothing, little raven." Beyond stood up, and held his hand out to her. "I'll tell you what, Miss Lyric. I know that it's not fun to be in a place like this without a friend. Why don't I introduce you to my friend, A? You'll like him a lot, I'm certain."

"Um...okay, Be-Beyond..." Hesitantly, she took his offered hand, and walked close to him when he pulled her out of the room.

This guy seems kind of dangerous...I should watch out for him. Michelle thought.

But he's being really nice to us, so we should be nice, too! a childish voice protested.

...who said that? she wondered as Beyond led her into a room with a sign above the door that read "B, A".

"Hey, Alec!" he called. "Look, I found someone for us to play with!"

"Oh, cool!" a voice called back. "I'll be right there."

A loud crashing sound followed, and Lyric instinctively hid behind B. Beyond patted her head comfortingly.

A few minutes after the sound had disappeared, a boy with short blonde hair and bright, violet colored eyes appeared before them. He was pretty tall, and was wearing a pair of baggy pajama pants and a loose shirt.

"Sorry about that. I dropped a bunch of my books when I was getting my toy off of that tall shelf," he explained. "So, who'd you– oh! A new kid!" The boy – who Michelle assumed was named Alec – smiled brightly and walked over to them. He stood in front of Michelle, and crouched so that his eyes were level with hers. "Hello, little one. Aren't you the cutest thing?" He made sure to emphasize his previous statement by ruffling her hair with his hand. "What's your name?"

"I-I'm Mich– um...Lyric. I'm L-Lyric."

"Still aren't used to the new name, huh?" he inquired. When Michelle nodded in response, he gave another understanding smile. "Don't worry. You'll get used to it in time."

"This is Alec, little raven." Beyond explained to Michelle. "All of the adults call him A, but he doesn't care either way, so call him what you wish."

"O-okay." Lyric agreed.

She squealed in surprise when Alec lifted her into his arms. "I always feel worse for the kids who have to come here when they know what's going on. I think it's best to come as a baby, with a memento from your parents or something," he told Beyond, who nodded in agreement. Alec smiled down at her. "Still, she doesn't seem to have been too affected, so maybe she'll be okay."

"Don't get too comfortable with her." B warned. "She's the third successor in line."

Alec blinked in surprise. "You're joking, right?" When B shook his head, Alec frowned. "But she's so small...even though you and I have been here for years, since we were babies, we didn't become the successors until just last year."

"That's because he hadn't even become L yet, so there was no need for a successor at the time." Beyond replied, and Michelle vaguely wondered what he meant by "he hadn't become L". "I'm sure that our little raven here was just in the wrong place at the right time."

"For them," Alec added.

"Yeah." B agreed. "For them."

"U-um, excuse me?" Lyric interjected, tugging at Alec's sleeve. "Is it...is it scary here? Will I be okay?"

What the hell? I didn't want to say anything to him!

Silly Miss Michelle! Of course you didn't! I did!

What in the hell is going on?

"Yes, you'll be fine." Alec assured her, pulling Michelle from her reverie. He gently patted her head. "There are some mean people here, little raven, and they may want to hurt you, but as long as you stay with Beyond and I, we'll try our best to protect you."

Why is everyone calling me "little raven"? "R-really?"

"Really." B interrupted. "It'd be awful of us to just let you go on alone, especially being as young as you are."

"Are you guys way older than me? Like, this many?" Lyric inquired, holding up three fingers. "Or this many?" As she said this, she held up all ten of her fingers.

Alec chuckled. "No, we aren't that much older than you. I'm only eight."

"As am I," B agreed.

And they're already speaking as if they're in their thirties... Michelle thought. What is this place, a childhood remover? They should be outside, playing with all those other kids!

"Anyway, little raven, we have to study now." Beyond said, moving to take her from Alec.

"Nooo!" he cried, backing away from B with Lyric still in his arms. "I wanna play with Miss Lyric!"

Beyond sighed. "You know that Roger and Wammy will kill us if we don't study."

"W-Wammy?" Michelle interjected. "But, he seemed so nice before..."

"Oh, he's real nice." Alec assured her. "He just really wants us to succeed at whatever we do, so he makes us study a lot. He means well, but..."

"But he works us too hard." B added. "We never get time to play or read for fun or do anything that we like." He looked down at Michelle sadly. "Unfortunately, that'll be your future, too. Especially if you become the next L..." His voice trailed off, and his gaze traveled downward as the memory of what it was like being L flooded his mind. Oh, it was terrible...

"Beyond." Alec said in a serious tone that effectively derailed B's train of thought. "Don't tell her such things now. She's young, and she just got here. You shouldn't disillusion her from this place so quickly."

"She should be disillusioned. This place isn't as nice as it looks, and you know that. All this place is for is to generate the newest genius that'll replace L, and the rest of the lot can go to hell." Beyond said, his voice rising a bit. "They don't care about us, the only one they care about is L, and they barely give a damn about him!"

"Beyond!" Alec exclaimed sharply, cutting off B's rant. "Stop it, now. You know better than to say such things when you really know nothing! And look what you've done to Lyric!"

He held Lyric a bit closer as she trembled, and tears welled up in her eyes. Beyond had terrified her with his yelling and rage, though that wasn't his intention.

Wait, I'm CRYING? Michelle wondered. What the hell? I wasn't scared at all!

But he was scary! the voice from before replied. And he was so loud...

"Oh, damn..." B muttered. "I'm sorry, Lyric. I didn't mean to make you cry, I just..."

"You get too emotional about these things." Alec interjected, sighing. "She may be the third successor in line, but you have to remember that she's still just a baby, a baby that's too smart for her own good. Let her have her two or three years of childhood, Beyond. She's going to become very mature very fast anyhow."

"Just like the rest of us, right?" B said, giving a small, sad smile.

"Yeah." A agreed, the same expression as Beyond's on his face.

"Um..." Michelle mumbled, feeling a bit uncomfortable and out of place. "Don't you and B-Beyond have to study now, Alec?"

"Yeah, we do." he said, setting Michelle down on the ground. "But maybe we'll come play with you once we're done. What'll you do until then, little raven?"

"I might go outside and play with those other kids..." she told Alec, her voice trailing off a bit.

"I'm not sure if that's a good idea..." B muttered. He knew that the children outside were extremely resentful of new kids, and they'd be even angrier with a new kid who was one of the "selected few", as they called it. "Are you sure you don't want to help us study or something?"

"I'll probably be a hin-hindr-hinder–"

"A hindrance?" Alec corrected. Lyric nodded.

"Yeah, that." she said. "I don't wanna bother you while you're trying to work..."

"Well, okay." B agreed. "But at least let me take you back to your room, just in case."

"Al-alright." Michelle agreed. Lyric raised her arms, silently asking to be carried, and Beyond lifted her into his arms.

"I'll be back in, like, five minutes." he told A. "If Roger or Wammy comes by before I get back, make up a lie for me. Tell them that I'm in the bathroom or something."

"Sure." A agreed. He smiled at Lyric as she waved goodbye, and he waved back. "Bye-bye, little raven."

B turned and left the room, Michelle in his arms, and he strolled down the hall. "You know, there are some really fun places here." he told her.

"Really?" she asked excitedly. "Like what?"

"Ah, that's a secret." Beyond said, chuckling when she started to pout. "Don't worry, little raven. The next time we get some free time, me and A will show them to you. Okay?"

"Okay!" Lyric agreed, nodding vigorously.

They soon arrived at her room, and Beyond set her down when they arrived at her bedroom. He crouched so that he was eye level with her, and ruffled her hair with his hand. "Be careful, okay, little raven?"

"Yes, sir!" she said in agreement, smiling up at him. She waved as he left, and once he had gone down the hall, she went over to her bed and flopped down, sighing heavily.

"When will this dream end? It's making me say and do things I don't want to do, and it's really too long for me..." Michelle whispered as she closed her eyes. Not soon after, was fast asleep. She slept peacefully, but a conflict raged inside her mind.

Hey, Michelle, get up!

"Go away...I'm asleep..."

Hee hee! Silly Michelle, you can't sleep now! We have a little...issue to resolve.

"Issue...?"

Michelle rubbed her eyes sluggishly, and gasped in surprise when she saw that her fingers had not only elongated, but had reverted to the tan color they'd originally been.

"No way...I finally woke up? Man, that was a really long dream..."

No, don't be silly! The dream has only just begun!

"What? Hey– who are you? And where am I?" Michelle looked around frantically, but, aside from her own body, could see nothing but blackness.

"Behind you, Miss Michelle."

The voice had grown louder, and a bit more sinister, which made Michelle hesitate. However, against her better judgment, she turned around to face the owner of the voice – a black-haired, violet-eyed, pale-skinned girl.

"Y-you're...me?" Michelle asked, though her voice was barely above a whisper.

"Wrong!" the girl responded, giggling. "I'm Lyric, silly! Though, we will be one in the same, soon. Michelle will become a part of Lyric, buried in the recesses of her mind..."

"NO!" Michelle yelled. "I won't let that happen! I have my own life...I-I need to go back to it!"

"But what do you care about your old life?" Lyric inquired, twirling a strand of her hair around her index finger innocently. "You hated every second of that boring life, didn't you? You wanted more excitement, did you not?"

"W-well, yes, but–"

"Then Miss Michelle is in for a real treat!" Lyric exclaimed as she floated – floated – over to Michelle. "You see, this is nothing more than a story, Miss Michelle. I know everything that will happen to me – that will happen to us – when I get older. It will be very exciting, very fun. But, as the old saying goes, 'An eye for an eye'. In exchange for this super fun new life–"

"–I can't go back to mine." Michelle interrupted as realization washed over her.

"Bingo!" Lyric exclaimed as she giggled and leapt upward to pat Michelle on her head (the height difference was that great). "Miss Michelle might not be as smart as me, but she's still really smart!"

Michelle scowled, but Lyric ignored this and continued on. "Miss Michelle cannot come and go as she pleases, like in the books. She can only have one or the other. After all, this world was not given to Miss Michelle, no, she created it, and someone else made it real, just for you. And to create anything, especially when an anonymous person is doing the hardest part for you, you have to pay for the materials. Since you can't pay for a world built in the mind with money, you have to pay for it with something as valuable as the world you're creating. Normally, something small like your memories would do, but Miss Michelle was too thorough, too detailed with this world. Everything is exactly how you wanted it to be, with a few small things that you didn't want."

As she said this, she flicked the strand of hair protruding from the top of her head, which she knew was one of the things that Michelle disliked. "These small things were added to even out the payment a bit, but the expense was still too high to take just your memories. So that guy created Lyric and made me a being separate from Miss Michelle, and then he gave me a task. You'll be allowed to have your fun, but after a while, I am to take your life away from you, and to take over your body. You'll still be in existence, but you'll merely be a thought in the back of my mind. Nothing more, Miss Michelle."

"W-wait." Michelle muttered, trying to take it all in. "You mean...I created this place, and s-some guy made it a reality? Wh-who?"

"Yes, Miss Michelle made everything in this world, except for this empty space right here." Lyric said, walking around on what appeared to be empty air against a black backdrop. "This space was created so that I can talk to Miss Michelle, and so I can...weaken her moral, just a teeny bit." As she said this, Lyric gave a smile that was uncharacteristically sinister, and the dangerous light that glinted in her eyes shined bright enough that it frightened Michelle. "Also, I can't tell you who made this place real for you. It is very confusing, and mere words would only make the process even more confounding."

"Was it a god?"

"You could say that."

"Oh." Michelle didn't really care about that, though. She had a different question, one that she needed to ask. "Why do you sometimes dominate my actions?" she asked Lyric. "The things that I say, the things that I do...sometimes, you even come into my thoughts. Why?"

"You'll have to get used to that, Miss Michelle." Lyric said in a voice much deeper than the one she'd started with. This new voice sounded as if it was dripping with malice... "Eventually, I will overcome you. You will no longer be in control – I will. I am doing it to help you grow accustomed to the feeling of having your words, actions and thoughts become insignificant – soon, you won't even be able to say or do anything. All that you'll have to communicate are your thoughts, and all they will be is annoying, like a fly buzzing by my ears."

"And this...this is that guy's price f-for creating this world for me?"

"Yes, that's it. Kindness comes at a price, Miss Michelle. Everything does." Lyric did a small twirl. "But, he's not the only one that wants you gone."

"What?"

"I do, Miss Michelle. I want you to suffer the same fate that I did." Lyric stopped twirling, and stared pointedly at Michelle, her voice still dripping with malice. "Ever since you decided that your life was too boring, we've been working on creating this world for you, using the time that you slept as our construction time. You know how, on the nights when you didn't get enough sleep, but felt fine during the day, you'd fall asleep early and sleep the entire night through?"

"...yes..." Michelle replied cautiously.

"That was us putting you to sleep." Lyric admitted. "We had to, so that we could finish the world before you did something drastic, like doing anything that could severely damage any part of your brain. Anything like that would've ruined the world we'd made. Your subconscious was there, Miss Michelle, directing us and describing everything you wanted and how you wanted it. It was terribly difficult, because you were so detailed, but we got it done. However, the people – and there were oh, so many people – the people were nowhere near done, and so they had to leave me in my 'room', to wait for all those people that you had ordered to be made."

"I had expressed my desire to be real so much that they had to lock me in there, to ensure that I wouldn't try to dominate you in your vulnerable state, and they wouldn't let me out. Once I take control of my body, Miss Michelle, the very same thing will happen to you. You will be locked in a room in the recesses of my mind, and you will be trapped there until you die."

"Or until you do," Michelle added.

"And even then, you will die along with me." Lyric said. "And don't try to get information out of me in sneaky ways like that. I won't tell you when I am to die. Remember that I am smarter than you, Miss Michelle. Never forget."

Michelle frowned. "For such a young girl, you are certainly very evil and arrogant."

"Arrogant? Evil?" Lyric repeated, twirling a lock of her hair around her finger in innocence again (whether this innocence was feigned or real, Michelle could not tell). "Don't be silly, Miss Michelle. This isn't evil. This is me trying to survive."

"If that's the case..." Michelle muttered, going over to Lyric and bending over so that they were eye-to-eye. "...if that's the case, then I will do whatever it takes for me to survive. I won't let you take control of my body, especially since you're just a thought that my mind created."

"You don't understand the magnitude of your situation," Lyric said, giving a wide grin that was so calm it was frightening. "I'm more than a thought now, Miss Michelle. Much more. Think of me as the voice that people who've gone mad claim to hear – the voice that drives the criminally insane to kill. I will control your every action, give you no opportunity to fight back, until one day, you will suddenly have no control over this body. The girl that's sleeping in bed right now is me. You've claimed this body, and I will let you have it for the time being. But, understand this, Miss Michelle – you will relinquish it to me, whether you do so of your own free will or not. After all, the guy who made this world real says that you have to! So you can't say no!"

"Can't I?" Michelle challenged. "Well, what if I refuse to do so? As you said, I made the blueprints for this world – I'm the architect. What happens to it if I refuse to relinquish this body to you, and let you live my life in the world that I created for me?"

"It will fall apart," Lyric replied, her grin widening, "and you will forever be trapped in an empty space, just like this one, with your only company being me." She stood on her toes as she moved toward Michelle's ear, and whispered, "Me, the one that wants to end you. If that happened, I would make what remained of your miserable life completely intolerable, and you'd be unable to kill yourself to end the suffering." She giggled. "Imagine that, Miss Michelle."

Michelle gasped. "You really are evil..." she muttered.

"Maybe so," Lyric agreed, "but if I'm evil, I'm nothing compared to the people we're going to meet in the future."

"What? Who am I– I mean, who are we going to meet?" Michelle inquired.

Lyric giggled. "Well, let's just say this: I hope you like apples."

Michelle had every intention of asking what the young girl meant, but before she could, she felt a powerful wind rushing past her, and suddenly, she could see nothing. The last thing she heard before waking up was Lyric's giggling, and her somewhat taunting calls of, Goodbye, Miss Michelle, and good luck.

The minute her eyes snapped open and she saw that she had returned to the room of Lyric, the third in line successor, she quickly sat up and threw herself out of the bed. This is dangerous, she thought. This is very dangerous. Nowhere is safe from her.

You're completely correct, Miss Michelle!Lyric's taunting voice responded. You can't hide from me! Even your thoughts aren't safe from me!

Michelle gave a small groan. Now that she knew about the dangers of the world she was now in – this dream world – she knew that she had to find a way out, and soon, or else she would lose her life to a dream – her dream.

I won't let you win this. Lyric told her. You will die. You will die, so that I may live.

A/N: Wow, this chapter was intense! I hadn't originally intended for Mind-Lyric to be so evil, but then I realized that anyone, whether it be a person born naturally or a person born from the mind, is bound to be angry if their body is taken from them and dominated by someone else. So, I decided that, even though she's a four (or five) year old girl, she is actually quite evil and kind of sadistic, but only toward the source of her hatred – Michelle. (She's kind of a sociopath.) So, along with worrying about living at Wammy's House, Michelle also has to worry about keeping control of Lyric's body from Mind-Lyric, or else she becomes a thought herself.

In case anyone was confused, allow me to elaborate on the section after Michelle goes to sleep for you guys. When this happens, she is still in Lyric's body. The part where she and Mind-Lyric are talking to each other face-to-face takes place in an empty space in Michelle's mind. The reason that she and Mind-Lyric look different than each other in the mind space is because Michelle believes that she and Lyric are different (so Michelle looks like her old self, and Mind-Lyric looks like Dream-Lyric), but if Mind-Lyric's little speech is anything to go by, Lyric and Michelle are slowly becoming one. Also, when Michelle wakes up, she still looks like Lyric. Think of it as a dream within a dream. (Yes, I did just make an Inception reference.) And as for the last line of that section ("I hope you like apples"), that was just some obvious foreshadowing. If you don't get it, you must have not watched Death Note.

Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter! Review, please, and thank you for reading!