Shinigami Realm

Dawn sat on one of the cliff edges, looking out over the Shinigami Realm with her Shinigami gathered scattered around her. She was thinking back to Winter – Mello – and the Shinigami that had given her her DEATH NOTE. He had been gentle and somewhat timid for a Shinigami, looking like a poorly sewn together and mismatched doll with only one eye. The last image she had right before Mello killed her was him crying – actually crying – and saying that he wouldn't let another human he cared about die. Ren, another Shinigami, had told Dawn he had sacrificed himself to do just that. Gelus had always been gentle, but in his own way, very brave.

She watched the grey sky, her expression a cross between wistfulness for her Shinigami friend and frustration at Mello's escape. One of her Shinigami, ignoring the dangerous aura surrounding her, dared to approach. It was the Shinigami with the metal-tipped whip which had dragged Mello to the ground earlier, and he flew up to stand next to Dawn's perch.

"You look so much nicer when you don't sulk," he told her.

"Shut up fledgling," Dawn snapped at him. "I do not wish to speak to you."

"I might be a Kira fledgling," the Shinigami said and sat unceremoniously close to Dawn, "but I am on your side."

Dawn snorted, tempted to crystallize one of her gauntlets to deter the fledgling. Kyosuke Higuchi, whether as a human or Shinigami, was unbearable. He was forceful and selfish, and greedy besides. She was not beautiful, being a Shinigami, but she was female. That was all Higuchi needed to try to cling to Dawn, but he had yet to try directly on her. If not for her monstrous strength, she was certain he would have already tried something.

Dawn turned her head, about to demand that he leave her alone and accent her demand with a gauntlet when pain made her duck her head. A ringing noise echoed in her ears, and she put a hand to her forehead as pain spiked through her skull. Her first thought was that Higuchi had done something to her, but he cringed beside her at a splitting migraine that had suddenly overcome him.

The Shinigami Dawn had earned the allegiance of gave assorted chirps, hisses, growls, and whimpers as the pain shot through them as well. Ryuk, eating a dried up apple of the Shinigami Realm with Hela and Mikami almost dropped the apple and his companions cringed as well. Mello flinched, and Matt caught his arm only to almost fall himself as the pain hit him as well. Jack Neylon, a Mafia member under Mello's command that had unintentionally become the owner of a DEATH NOTE, almost fell of his perch. Armonia Justin Beyondormason leaned forward on his throne, jewels reflected greyly in the tinted light. Others felt the pain as well until every single Shinigami in the realm had their head bowed.

Then the most unexpected thing happened. A voice spoke in all their minds. It wasn't speaking to anyone in particular, but a realm-wide announcement heard by all. The voice was not a normal voice, but a combination of sounds. It was the rustle of viper scales as they slithered across dry leaves, the crackle of a newborn flame as it gnawed at tinder and grew, the clink of broken glass shards as they fell on top of each other, and the soft hissing sound as if a whetstone was being run across an axe head to sharpen its edge. The combination of sounds made everyone from Mello and Dawn to Ryuk and Hela shiver. Then the voice spoke.

*You have all met me* the voice said, sounding like all of the sounds put together, was projected directly into their minds. *I am the creator of the DEATH NOTE and the one who made you who you were. I am your king.*

"The Shinigami King," Armonia, the king's second in command, whispered. "He's making an announcement?"

*Many new Shinigami were created during this recent Kira incident* the Shinigami King continued to say. *I now pass this order to all. Capture and bring all Kira fledglings to me at once. I will remove the invulnerability from the Shinigami Realm as I earlier removed it from the human world. Bring them at any cost.*

With a sound like a crack of snapping someone's spine, the presence and pain vanished. Everyone hesitated, but the abrupt announcement was gone as soon as it began. Dawn shook her head, matted hair tossed by the movement.

"Well," Dawn said as she looked at the cloudy black sky. "That was enlightening."

Higuchi held his breath as the announcement sank in, realizing he was a Kira fledgling. He glanced at Dawn, plastering a trusting smile on his features, his mouth full of needle-like teeth reaching literally from ear to ear.

"Dawnie?" He addressed her with that smile.

Without looking away from the sky, Dawn punched him. She did not have a chance to crystallize her gauntlet, fortunate for him, but she still landed a heavy blow that threw him into the air. Instinct made him snap out his wings and saved him from a bad fall. He glanced over his shoulder and Dawn stood, dusting off her ragged clothes with a smile.

"How convenient," Dawn said with a smile. "I can finally give you a piece of my mind, Higuchi."

Panic lit his eyes as the gauntlets and greaves crystallized around Dawn's hands and feet, her wings unfurling. Dawn was smiling, and, Higuchi realized as he looked around, so were the other Shinigami. With a panicked shriek, he fled. Laughing in exhilaration, Dawn leaped off the bluff she had been sitting on and her wings snapped out as she took to the sky in pursuit.

The Shinigami King, omnipotent as he was within the boundaries of the Shinigami Realm, watched the entire realm at once as the Shinigami took to the air and bared fangs, claws, and weapons. All of the Kira fledglings that were suddenly being hunted had weapons, something most of the older Shinigami lacked, so despite being outnumbered they were able to hold their own.

It was most amusing to watch, and satisfying to the king. The fledglings had been endowed with inherit fighting skills that would complement their weapon, and they were doing much better then he thought they would. This fight was something of a warm-up, the king mused, to the real war coming up soon. They were a promising group. Once the other Shinigami finished "drafting" the fledglings – his officers – then he could really begin.

He watched as a fledgling by himself bashed his three opponents to the point where they couldn't move and flew away. This Shinigami wore a hooded black cloak that hid his form and features, the back of the cloak stretched out into a pair of long cloth wings roughly shaped like a bat's. In his hands was a giant gleaming scythe. The humans, in every definition of the word, would call him a Grim Reaper. He got away, but the King subtly redirected several nearby Shinigami to continue the chase.

This might take a while.

Human World

Raven was released from police custody three hours after her arrest. They could have held her on assaulting the police officers, but the officers elected not to press charges. The two weren't eager to admit they had been thrashed by a high schooler, and they didn't see it as her fault. She had been in shock from finding the body of someone she loved and the officers had gotten in her way. It happened more often than some thought. The cops just usually didn't get throttled.

As they didn't have any evidence she was behind the death of Cody Sharp, she was regarded only as a witness and possible suspect. Authorities strongly believed she was the girl mentioned in the scrawled message in the mirror Cody had left, and Raven agreed she probably was. She had given a statement and answered their questions, cooperating as much as she could in all but one regard.

The only part that she hadn't was her vehement belief that this was not a suicide, but a murder. True he came from what might be called a "broken home", but he had good grades, good friends, and a date planned with Raven for the next day. There was no way he would commit suicide. The officers said they would look into it, but Raven wasn't sure how she felt as she left the precinct.

There was a taxi waiting for her when walked outside and at her command, the driver returned to the trailer park where her car had been left. She paid the driver with her debit card and then got out. Someone was poking around her car in an attempt to get in. It was Ashton Tanner, the local punk. Raven looked at him flatly and took the car keys out of her purse. She beeped the lock on the remote for her car. The car made a noise and the thief jumped.

"May I help you?" Raven asked him in the same flat look her eyes still held.

Tanner hesitated and Raven, in a very bad mood, stalked towards him.

"Move," she ordered him.

"Why?" He asked. "How about you give me your keys?"

Raven approached him and without a word shoved a hand against his face, slamming his head against her car with a thud. Tanner stumbled backwards and Raven used the key fob to unlock the doors. She tossed her purse inside and sat in the driver's seat as the man approached.

"Hold on you brat," he ordered.

"Yeah right," Raven grumbled.

When he got too near, Raven drew the car door closed and then slammed it open, hitting him in the face again with the doorframe. Then she stood and punched his throat, caving it in. Tanner was still standing after that, albeit wheezing, so she shifted her weight and kicked him across the face, using her anger from Cody's death to put a great deal of force behind it. Her opponent crashed to the ground, soundly unconscious. With a huff, she got back inside the car and started it.

As she drove off, she saw some of the other people in the trailer park looking outside their windows at Tanner. They were all smiling, glad he had been beaten up. Raven normally would have played to the crowd and waved, but this time she just put her car in reverse, went around the goon despite being tempted to go over him, and headed home.

Her mother, who had not been alerted to her imprisonment, was still at work. Thus, the house was locked and dark. Still numb from what had happened and somehow still able to smell blood, she got out and closed her car door, marching straight for the house. Raven would have entered immediately if something hadn't moved in the corner of her sight.

She didn't instantly see what it was that had caught her attention until she turned. Then she dropped her purse, her jaw falling open. Her reaction came from surprise this time when she saw what was struggling to sit up in the grass.

"Moon?" She whispered.

Her Shinigami had obviously been in a fight, and not one he had won judging from his state. One of his wings had almost been hacked off and his clothing was covered in some sort of black liquid. Moon looked up at his name, ember-like eyes meeting hers. Relief seemed to seep into the pain-stricken eyes as he dropped back to the ground.

Raven, ignoring the fact that no one but her could see Moon and that she would look crazy panicking over nothing, ran over and knelt by his side.

"Moon, what happened?" She demanded, not bothering to ask if he was all right since he obviously wasn't.

"Ambush," Moon rasped as Raven grabbed one of his arms and helped him sit up. "There's another Shinigami here, someone else with a DEATH NOTE."

Raven was so surprised by his words that she didn't realize she was suddenly able to touch him. "What?"

Moon nodded, reaching inside his jacket to make sure his DEATH NOTE was still there. He was relieved it hadn't been dropped onto the human world as that would forfeit his ownership of it and he needed to keep at least one. The serious look Raven had made him pause. She almost looked a little demented, and he had never seen that look before.

"Another DEATH NOTE," Raven repeated and then said softer, "Cody."

Cody? "Did something happen?"

"Cody just committed suicide," Raven filled him in as she stood, jaw locked and eyes alight with a dangerous gleam. "We had a date planned for tomorrow so I knew he wouldn't have killed himself. I just knew it! The other DEATH NOTE user must have written his name down and made his cause of death suicide. You said I could make a person kill themselves because all humans have the capacity for suicide. Why would anyone kill Cody though? He doesn't even know about the DEATH NOTEs."

She looked towards the house, eyes distant as she turned the possibility over. Why would someone kill Cody? Who would profit from his murder?

"The DEATH NOTE," Moon repeated, slowly struggling to his feet. "Help me get inside. I can kill some of the criminals you've been saving. That should help me."

Raven didn't answer so Moon grabbed her arm, almost dragging her to the ground when his own legs gave. She managed to catch herself and him, supporting him. The blackened blood that oozed from Moon's wounds stained her clothing and skin as she started to half-drag him towards the house.

She had to stop to unlock the front door, setting Moon down on the porch so she could fish her keys from her purse. The screen door wouldn't stay open, but Raven managed to drag Moon inside and let the door close behind them. With trouble, she managed to drop him onto the kitchen floor and then toss her purse on the counter as she went upstairs.

Her own DEATH NOTE was in its hidden nook under her bed, and with it was a small stack of paper with the names and pictures of criminals she had yet to kill. Taking only the papers, Raven hopped down the stairs back to the kitchen. Moon nearly snatched the list of names from her and took out his DEATH NOTE to copy names. She took a step back to let him write, shaking her head at Moon's uncharacteristic impatience. It wasn't as if he could die or anything.

Raven crossed her arms over her chest idly and felt something sticky on her bare forearms. She looked down and gave a start when she saw her arms and her t-shirt were covered in some sort of black substance, similar in color to oil but thick as honey with a scent similar to stagnant swamp water. Stunned, she gripped her t-shirt in her hands and looked at the stains, but they were no illusion. Slowly, Raven lowered her head to the floor. Drops of the substance led from the front door to the kitchen and a pool of it was starting to spread around Moon.

Was it blood? No, it couldn't be. Shinigami weren't mortal. They couldn't be hurt, couldn't be killed. She remembered when she had thrown her knife at him. It had gone right through his form without effect and skewered itself on the dartboard behind him. She shouldn't have been able to touch Moon to move him, Raven realized, but she had.

Moon exhaled a sigh of relief as the names he had penned in the DEATH NOTE took effect and the eight people died. His bone wings shifted and then extended to their full length, the damage to the injured wing gone. He tucked his DEATH NOTE away as he stood, using the counter for support. The wings folded onto his back out of sight.

Raven assumed the humans heh ad killed had done him good and whistled. Moon's head swung around to her.

"If you're feeling better then I suggest you leave," Raven said firmly as she took the sheets of paper from him.

Moon gave her a blank look, not understanding her intent.

"Outside," Raven explained, "you're making a mess."

She pointed to the floor and Moon gave a start just as she had when he saw the black stains on it.

"It's from you," Raven sighed as she tried to figure out how long it would take to clean up. "I think it's the equivalent of blood."

Moon looked at his clothing and then shifted his eyes to Raven. It looked like his… blood had ruined her clothing.

"Out," Raven repeated, waving the sheets at him. "I need to clean this up before my mom gets home and take a shower. Once I have this fixed, you are going to tell me everything about the second Shinigami that attacked you."

"Why?" Moon asked in an uncaring tone.

"Because his human partner is probably the one behind Cody's death."

"You're so sure that he didn't commit suicide by himself," Moon asked with a smirk.

That got under Raven's skin in an instant. "Of course I'm sure! He wouldn't do it, not now."

"Why do I get the feeling he would have killed himself earlier?" Moon asked, astonished by Raven's defensiveness.

Raven felt the heat rise to her cheeks, remembering the first time she had met Cody. She had been on her rollerblades, racing Jeremy on his skateboard. He had accidently wiped out and Raven had taken the lead. They had been on the William M Powell Bridge and she had seen him standing outside the bridge's railings. They were still close to the mainland and the sea crashed against the shore beneath him.

He had taken a step forward to let himself fall to the ocean and Raven had been just fast enough to grab his arm. Unlike her sandals, her rollerblades hadn't been able to give her a good grip and she had been half-dragged off the bridge, almost tumbling over the side with him. Jeremy had caught up at that moment and managed to grab Raven. With the aid of passerby, both Raven and he had been brought to safety.

Raven had waved it off as an accident, hiding what Cody had almost done. She would never forget the moment when she caught hold of his arm to keep him from falling and he'd looked up at her. He'd been so surprised that someone would save him, so surprised he hadn't been able believe it.

"Maybe once," Raven said grimly, "but not now. He knows that his life is as valuable as anyone else's, no matter what his father says. Now get outside. Being protective of a friend is no crime despite what you might think. Isn't that why you could be killed, Light Yagami? You'd killed or betrayed all your friends so there was no one left to help you in your time of greatest need, which is why no one helped after Matsuda shot you."

Now it was Moon's turn to stutter and flush. She was right of course, but that didn't help. He turned with something similar to a huff stalked through the wall and into the backyard. Raven brushed some of her hair behind her ear with a free hand, smirking.

She decided to head upstairs and put up the papers first. Her mother liked the fact that Kira was getting rid of the criminals and lowering the amount of patients the hospital was getting, but didn't approve of Kira killing as he saw fit. Raven didn't understand that part of her mother's thinking as someone had to clean up the scum of the world, but knew the papers had to be hidden nonetheless.

Raven looked over the floor, glad the Shinigami's blood was on the tiled floor. There was carpeting in the living room and it would be impossible to get the black stains out without her mother noticing something. As she poked her head into the closet to look for a sponge mop, the blood on her arms seemed to turn red under the light. Instinct made her flinch back and she thought for a moment that it was Cody's.

It wasn't though. It was just Moon's, and although him being hurt was new it wasn't like he could actually die. He couldn't die like Cody. Raven abandoned the mop and went to the sink, turning on the water. With shaking hands, she scrubbed Moon's blood off her arm. The sight of blood had never bothered her before, so why was she shaking now?

The image of Cody's body drifted past her eyes and Raven bit her lip as she lowered her head, eyes stinging. Her hands stopped shaking. Local authorities and government were useless. If they weren't, then there would be no need for Kira, but Kira was badly needed to clean up Earth for the worthwhile humans. Kira was very busy, but he had another task now: catch the other DEATH NOTE user and make sure they paid for Cody's murder, a life for a life.

Do you remember Ryuk's story in chapter 18 about the history of the Shinigami? The Shinigami King used to be Archangel with seven older brothers, but turned against them. Their world, Heaven, became the desolate wasteland it now is from the war. Shinigami were made as the new angels since none of the other angels survived, but because they become angles after they die they are twisted beings of death instead of entities of life.

The king's planning on going to war but the other angels he fought against are dead, so who's left to go to war against?