Death Note: Plane of the God's
Chapter Two: Kira
Calogero slid into a carefully controlled dive towards Light Yagami. His heart was filled with a strange elation at finally achieving his goal. He gave a powerful beat of his wings and landed in a crouch in front of Light, a blast of wind cascading around him. Light, for the most part, leapt a foot into the air and landed painfully on the ground. Calogero smirked.
"Pleasure to meet you at last Kira," he chuckled, standing up, offering his hand to Light.
Light gingerly took the offered hand and clambered to his feet. Calogero stepped back as Light began to dust himself down, wincing occasionally. Calogero looked at where the dried blood appeared to have come from. Bullet holes if he wasn't mistaken. However they shouldn't really be causing Light any pain.
"You're not like the other Shinigami here," Light said. "I can see through them. But not through you."
"Correct," Calogero stated. "The other Shinigami here have all died. Like you. This is where all users of the Death Note go when their life expires."
Light pondered this information, then said: "And where exactly is here?"
"This is the Mu," Calogero said, spreading his arms out. "Nothingness. The abyss."
Light absorbed this slowly, looking at Calogero.
"So why are you here?" he eventually asked. "Some kind of punishment?"
"An assignment," Calogero responded. "I was sent here looking for you."
Light raised an eyebrow. "Me? Whatever for?"
"The old man is always looking out for new potential Shinigami," Calogero explained. "However there hasn't been a new recruit to our kind in a very long time…" Calogero looked as though he was pondering something. "I was the first you know."
Light was confused: "First what?"
"First human to become a Shinigami," he answered chuckling. "Once upon I time I was where you are now. Sitting in this abyss, alone when a Shinigami came and took me to my rightful place as one of them."
He leaned into Light. "Once I was a Shinigami, I went back down to the human realm and began to kill once more." He straightened up again. "I mean look at me. Where do you think all your human legends about a Grim Reaper came from?"
This obviously shocked Light.
"You're, the Grim Reaper?"
Calogero cackled.
"Surprised?" he asked. "I was when I saw all the tales about Death roaming the streets. I had a disease named after me. Black Death. Ah, the bubonic plague was such a fun time."
Light looked at Calogero. This creature had some sort of fetish for killing. And yet… there was something familiar about him. Something… relatable.
"How did you become a Shinigami?" Light asked at last.
Calogero looked at Light and for a moment, Light saw real madness in Calogero's eyes. And yet it was so eerily familiar, like something he saw whenever he looked into the mirror when he was alive. A glint of pure, unfiltered insanity.
"I'm sure you know the story," Calogero said smirking. "A Death Note dropped into our world and landed in front of me. Of course I had no idea what it really was but when the Shinigami told me about it and its power… I realized I could make a difference.
"I realized I could kill criminals and the corrupt," Calogero continued, looking wistfully at the sky. "In a way we are the same Light Yagami. We both took our Death Note's to change our world for the better."
"And we both paid for our efforts," Light lamented.
"Aye," Calogero muttered. "You hunted by the human child Near for being a murderer. Me, hunted by my whole country and accused of being an agent of the devil."
"Seems that no matter what we do as a human others resist. Even though are motives were pure," Light sighed.
"Allow me to ask you a question," Calogero said.
"Go ahead," Light responded.
"Did you ever regret killing anyone?" Calogero asked. Light smirked.
"I knew what I might get into when I dedicated myself to this mission," Light said. "And even then, even when I had to kill people I knew… No. I don't regret killing a single one of those I killed. It was all to create a better world."
Calogero nodded slowly. "Spoken like a Shinigami."
Light smirked and stood up, wincing again.
"Damn Matsuda," he cursed.
"The pain isn't real," Calogero said simply. "It's your imagination. You are dead after all. You think the pain of life would follow you into death?"
Light blinked. It was as if some switch had been flicked. The pain that had been lancing up and down his body vanished, to be replaced with a cool euphoria. As soon as Calogero pointed it out, the aches and pains he'd been feeling vanished.
"Feel better?" Calogero asked.
"Much," Light said thankfully.
"Come on Kira," Calogero smirked. "It's a long way back to the Shinigami Realm."