(I just discovered that Lawliet is not pronounced law-let, but it's actually said low-lite and I am tripping out right now… Send help.)
Things get moving a bit more in this chapter.
Ellie May's P.O.V.
I'm not sure how this could be called training. Even Lawliet himself admits that he is, and I'm quoting him on this, 'childish and hates to lose.' And that means he refuses to let me win even once. I haven't come close. Not. Once.
I threw my hands in the air, "Okay, we've been at this for hours, I need a break. Can we go do something else?" I sat back in my chair, crossing my arms in defiance.
"Yes, I see we haven't made much progress. I suppose we can stop for now," he bit at his nail, looking at the chess board.
I took a deep breath, relieved. "Okay," I said, "Let's just go and listen to some music for a while. We can chill out on a couch and eat snacks, how does that sound? Mr. Yagami can watch the monitors."
"And what would we be listening to?" he picked up a donut with his thumb and forefinger, lifting it above his head to munch at it from beneath.
I smiled mischievously, "Did you know there is a Death Note the Musical?"
He nearly choked on his pastry. I couldn't hold it in; I laughed out loud at the look on his face. It appeared to be a mixture of horror and shock, with a few hints of confusion and indignation. I never thought he even could make a face like that. It was a moment I would treasure forever.
"Perfect," I grabbed his sleeve, "let's go," I dragged him from his chair up the stairs to the music room I had found – to my extreme delight – on my floor of the building. It had a bunch of instruments, as well as a comfy couch and the best speakers I'd ever heard in surround sound. I plugged my phone into the wall and opened YouTube, pulling up the English soundtrack. I pressed play and watched L's questioning look.
When the soundtrack was over he simply stared at me, his expression unreadable. "So," I asked, thoroughly amused, "What'cha think? Personally I thought the songs didn't fit the characters very well, but at least the actors had good voices. The actress who plays Rem is especially talented."
He played with his bottom lip, "I don't know how to respond to that."
I snickered again at his comment, changing the music to a YouTube mix, starting with L's theme. "This," I explained, "Is the music they used to represent you in the anime."
"Yes, I recognize this one." He tilted his head slightly, listening.
"This is how I imagine what goes on in your head if it were turned into music."
He looked at me, "What would yours sound like, I wonder?"
I shrugged, "hard to say. I guess it'd depend on the day." I sat next to him, letting my head rest on his shoulder, "really all you need to do to know that is listen when I sing. Usually I pick songs that mimic how I feel at the moment."
"I see."
We sat together listening to music for a while, not feeling the need to talk. He seemed deep in thought.
Eventually L wanted to go back to the control room. I was getting tired of sitting around, so I decided I'd seek out Matt and Mello. It turned out to be a lot more difficult than I thought; the building was huge. I got lost twice. Eventually I found them at the pool. Matt was having a grand old time swimming around while Mello sat to the side eating a chocolate bar.
"Hey guys," I greeted, "Mind if I join you?"
"Please do," Matt grinned.
"Alright, I'll go grab my swimsuit; be right back." I headed up to my room and changed, grabbing my goggles. Last time I went swimming may have been fun, but I didn't exactly get a lot of exercise. Not that I'm complaining.
When I got back Matt was chatting away to Mello in a back float. He was in just the right place that it would splash all over him if someone were to jump off the diving board… So naturally I knew what I had to do.
I walked quietly, keeping out of Matt's view. Mello noticed me, but didn't say anything when I put my finger to my lips in a shushing motion.
"…but if this is 2017, then were we in heaven all those years we were dead, or is it just later here?" Matt chattered on, "I mean, if we did just come straight here, did we travel through time or just- AHH!"
I made the largest splash I could, hitting him directly in the face. I stayed under the water for a moment to avoid any backlash. When I resurfaced, Mello was suppressing a laugh and Matt was treading the water with surprise etched on his face. I allowed a little bit of a maniacal laugh to escape my lips. That is, until Matt splashed me back.
It got in my mouth and up my nose, causing me to sputter and cough. Once I got my composure back I narrowed my eyes, "Oh, you did NOT." It was on.
We had an epic battle, each fighting with all our strength. Matt was a worthy opponent. Each time I struck, he immediately hit back with another wave – pun intended. Surely this war would go down in history. Mello just watched, munching at his cocoa. The bloodshed lasted a decent half hour.
Eventually I got too tired to continue, "Okay, okay, I surrender," I called, holding my hands in the air.
Matt punched his fish into the air, "Yes! Victory!"
"This isn't over," I warned, "I will defeat you next time, mark my words."
"Oh, I'll mark them, but only so it'll be sweeter when you lose again."
I scoffed, "you wish."
"Oh, come now," a cool voice called from behind me, "surely you won't accept defeat so easily."
I turned around to see L sitting near the edge of the pool in his usual way, watching us. He was biting his nails again.
"I thought you were going back to the control room," I questioned, "Otherwise I would have asked you to join us."
"I did, but nothing was happening, so I left Yagami to watch the monitors. At this point, there's not much to do other than wait."
"Well, in that case," I swam over to where he was sitting and gestured for him to lean closer, pretending I was going to tell him something. Instead I reached up and kissed him. He kissed me back, oblivious of my real intent.
I pulled him down into the water, jeans and all. He resurfaced, hair flattened on his head with water. Matt and Mello stared slack jawed and frozen, not believing what just happened. L ignored them. Instead, he grabbed my shoulders, returning the favor by kissing me and using the distraction to push me under the surface.
When I came back up he said, "and eye for an eye, my friend."
"How rude. You'll have to make it up to me," I teased.
"Oh?" He leaned in closer, "How's this?" he brushed my lips with his sweetly. It was easy to tell he had just eaten something with caramel.
"Yeah, ok, I forgive you," I said.
"Wait, hold on," Mello spoke up, "so when you told Matt you were taken, you were talking about him!?"
"Wow, L," Matt said, looking impressed, "I didn't know you had it in you."
Suddenly, Yagami's voice called on a speaker somewhere above us, making me jump, "Everyone, come quick! Something's happened."
I looked at L, he played with his lip. "That sounds urgent," he said.
The four of us left the pool room, Mello being the only one who wasn't dripping wet. When we got to the control room Watari and Mr. Yagami were waiting for us. All the monitors that had been turned off earlier were turned on, all showing different versions of the same thing. The largest monitor showed a shot of a woman standing in front of a prison. I listened to the news anchor as she explained what was happening.
"I'm on site in Colorado at the ADX Florence: a prison said to have the highest security in the world. It houses male criminals who the FBI have deemed to be some of the most dangerous men in the country. The prisoners are kept in their cells all day long, and no direct access to their cells is allowed. This afternoon, at approximately 8pm, one of the guards that was passing by his route found that every single one of the inmates had collapsed. Police have confirmed that all of them are dead. The building has been tested for both radiation and toxic fumes, but nothing has been found. A coroner reports that each of the bodies inspected all died of heart attacks."
I gawked at the screen, not believing what I just heard. I looked to L, hoping he could explain. I didn't want to believe it. It couldn't be. Light Yagami never appeared in the closet.
Lawliet simply studied the screen. I could almost see the gears turning in his head. Matt and Mello concentrated on the other monitors, each of them deep in thought.
The news anchor continued talking, suggesting theories as to the cause, but I tuned her out. As much as I didn't want to admit it, I knew exactly how they died.
Maybe my dream had been more than a dream. If that's true, then we were going to have problems. A LOT of problems.
"Watari," L's voice startled me out of my thoughts, "please pass out the new items we discussed."
"Items?" I asked, watching as Watari opened a cabinet on the wall, typing in a quick code.
L, who I noticed with a stab of guilt was still soaked, turned to face the rest of us. "I've had Watari acquire a number of masks for all of you. It would be in your best interest to wear these at all times when leaving this building. Kira has already seen us. Gabrielle is the only one of us who he does not know. For the time being, we must assume that he has the Shinigami eyes and can kill with only a face." He turned to me, "You will continue to attend classes as usual. You must maintain an air of normalcy. Do not give anyone any reason to suspect that you are involved in this case, do you understand?"
I nodded, fear suddenly gripping at my chest. This was really happening…
Watari passed the masks out to each of us. They were all plain white, full-face masks; the kind you can get at any party store, only these covered the entire head like a helmet. I noticed how L had a whole pile of extras in the cabinet. They were super creepy.
I could almost hear L's theme playing in the background.
Mello slapped his mask out of Watari's hands, "You knew he was coming?" he asked angrily.
"I had my suspicions, yes," L grabbed a truffle and popped it into his mouth.
"And did you not think that would be important enough to mention?" He looked ready to hit someone.
L talked with his mouth full, "I assumed that as one of my successors you would have come to that conclusion yourself."
Matt just watched the whole thing from the sidelines, still dripping from the pool. I watched as Mello grabbed his arm, storming out. He was yelling something about catching Kira on his own. I was sad to see them go, but I guess it was inevitable. L's way of doing things was too different from Mello's. I was sure our paths would cross later on, but who knows when that could be?
What we needed to focus on now was finding and stopping Light Yagami.
One of the news stations changed, showing a weirdly-shaped stone structure. The headline said, 'hundreds mysteriously dead at La Santé Prison'
"Look," I pointed it out, and moved it onto the main screen. It was a bird's eye view with a voiceover explaining how all the prisoners suddenly started having heart attacks. No survivors. No explanation.
"He's targeting the world's most secure prisons," L mumbled.
"Okay," I said, "how do we stop him?"
He looked at me, "We don't."
"Excuse me? You mean we're just going to let him keep going?"
"Yes. It's too early to determine anything."
"So we're just supposed to let all those people die?" I exclaimed I shock.
"If you want to save the rest of the world, as well as others, from the same fate, yes."
I stepped back. Other worlds? How did he know about that? That was just a weird dream I'd had after staying up too late. "But you're talking about an apocalypse. Even Kira wouldn't go that far, would he?"
He looked me square in the eye, "Do you really want to take that chance?"
"Ellie- I mean, Gabrielle," Mr. Yagami spoke, "I don't want to sit around lying in wait either, but you saw what he did to our world. He ruled over everyone by fear and threat. Perhaps if we had listened to L when he told us he thought Light was Kira, a lot of bloodshed could have been avoided. Unless you want the same thing to happen here, you should try and trust L."
I knew he was right, but I didn't have to like it. I frowned, but nodded my head in agreement.
"Good. Now that that's settled," L said, "how about a game of chess?"