L reading a bit to much into things :| Also threw in a Castle in the Sky reference ;) What's your favorite Studio Ghibli anime?
Light looked out the window of the Fujiwara Warehouse, gazing through the rain at the blurry lights of the city.
Whether it be a mountain cave or a castle in the sky, he thought, Kira's palace will always be where the Death Note is.
He held the black notebook in his hand, stroking the textured cover lovingly. He opened it and flipped through the pages. Once plain and white, they now bore the names of hundreds, no thousands of criminals, scum upon the earth. The names trailed like the tracks of ants across the pages, each word marking another step towards Kira's – towards his – perfect world.
Light flipped to a new page, unmarked by any other names. He sneered. He would need a lot of space for this judgement.
He touched the pen to the page and, slowly, deliberately, began to scratch out the name he had been craving to write for almost a year.
xxx
L squatted in a seat, gazing out the window. Everybody else, even Beyond, had drifted off, and he was the only one awake.
He raised a hand to the glass. Are you looking out of your window right now, Light? he thought. Are you gazing through the rain, envisioning the new world you wish to create?
He rested his forehead on the windowpane, closing his eyes, relishing the cool sensation against his throbbing skull. The bells had been ringing nonstop all day, and he was beginning to feel like they were affecting his judgement. He had moved the entire Task Force to Ota on a whim, and he had been making mistakes all day. Is this what it feels like for Beyond? he wondered. To see death everywhere he turns? To see the world bathed in a sheen of blood?
He glanced at a nearby table. Watari had placed his medication in a drawer, shoving it hastily in before setting up the control system. He pulled open the drawer, lifting the jar of sleeping pills that Watari occasionally gave him.
He tipped a few into his hand. One is enough to put me out for the night, he thought. Two could send me to La-La-Land for a week. Three. . . he hesitated, and spilled enough into his palm to knock out a full-grown buffalo.
"You won't do it." L turned around. Beyond was squatting on the armrest of his seat.
"Your numbers haven't reached their end." Beyond continued, leaping off and landing lightly on his feet. "They're not terribly low, but enough to last to the end of this case."
L placed the pills back in their bottle. "How long?"
Beyond's eyes were cold. "I'm afraid I don't read you."
"How long do I have left?" L asked.
Beyond turned away. "I can't tell you."
"Why not?" L asked. "You told A."
Beyond glared at him, eyes flashing red. "Don't you dare say her name."
"I didn't," L replied smoothly. "I said her title."
Beyond began walking away. "Your excuses are futile."
"It wasn't my fault." L called after him.
"Oh, really?" Beyond turned back, glowering with the fury of a thousand berserkers. "So, A isn't your fault, but everybody else is?" he stepped closer. "What about Raye Penber? What about the thousands of criminals who couldn't be saved in time? What about Naomi Misora? What about Ukita? What about the hundreds who fell because you made the wrong decision?" he leaned closer. "What about James?"
L stepped back. "That's different."
"Really?" Beyond snorted. "Is it? Is it really?"
"Yes," L moved away from Beyond. "James was. . . well, James. A died because she couldn't handle it. She was weak – "
Beyond's arm came out of nowhere, pinning L to the wall, crushing his windpipe. L stared unblinkingly into Beyond's crimson eyes.
"Don't you dare," he snarled quietly. "Don't you dare talk about Teresa like that!"
L looked coolly into his counterpart's eyes. "You choose to provoke me in the places where I am weakest. Why should I not do the same?"
Beyond's eyes were empty of emotion. Slowly, he lowered his arm, letting air once again enter L's lungs. "I can't tell you when." he said. "Because the numbers. . . they're unreadable."
"Unreadable."
"Your life is different," Beyond said. "Fleeting. Meaningless, yet the most meaningful at the same time. An existence comprised of oxymorons. It's changing constantly, melting and reshaping. Whenever it solidifies, it's always the same, but never stays long enough to read. Illegible."
There was silence, broken by L. "I never knew you were so smooth with synonyms, Beyond."
Beyond tried for his usual sneer, but it came out weak and sad. "We learn something new every day, don't we?"
:OOOOO Who's James?