A mysterious shinigami that no one recognizes flies up into the realm, and they ask who it is.

"Name's Korok, remember?"

"No. Are you with the King?"

"Yeah."

"I don't remember you seeing you around…you sure you're with the King?"

"Look, is this proof enough?" Shinigami takes out knife and a pair of shackles.

"Well, whatever."

Shinigami goes up to the tower to talk to Daril Ghiroza, who's sitting morosely by Justin. Daril thinks she sees a flicker of shock run across the shinigami's face when it sees Justin, but it quickly conceals it.

"Hey."

"Hi," said Daril, as listless as it was possible to be. "Who're you?"

"Name's Korok. Where's Ryuk?"

"Down in the tower dungeons."

"I didn't know the tower had dungeons."

"Neither did I, until now."

"Well, can you tell me where they are? I'm supposed to take Ryuk out and bring him to the old man so he can be punished."

"Last cell, at the end of the hall, through that door," said Daril, pointing to a door on a far-off corner of the tower. "Here. You'll need this key to unlock the door, and this one to open Ryuk's cell. I see you have a pair of shackles so he doesn't get away."

"Yep," said the shinigami, taking the keys before heading toward the door.

"By the way, Korok…would you do me a favour?"

"…What kind of favour?"

"Just a little one. If you see Rem, will you please tell her that her hair's sticking out from under Korok's mask?"

The shinigami stiffened. She felt at the back of her neck, and then hurriedly stuffed the purple tresses back into the rubber mask over her head.

"So, what happens to me now?"

"You hurry up and get Ryuk like you're supposed to, Korok. Good luck."

Rem stands uncertain for a moment, then goes into the room, and Sidoh says to Daril,

"So…is this some kind of plan? We're gonna capture her, right?"

"No."

"Huh? Why not? The King said…"

"The King says a lot of things, Sidoh. I don't believe any of them anymore."

Rem goes down and unlocks the cell, takes off her mask. There's an explanation of their plan: Ryuk wrote in his death note "A young girl picks up a piece of paper outside 1122 Bridge Lane warehouse at 10:22 a.m., and sees a horrible phantom. Panicking, she runs into the warehouse, where she meets Mortimer Hallinger, who is currently suicidal and hallucinating due to a strong dose of meth. He raises his gun to kill the girl before killing himself, but she stalls for time by trying to talk him out of it, and he dies of a heart attack at 10:26 before firing a shot." Thus, it only appeared that Rem died saving the girl, and pretended to write Mort's name at the time he was scheduled to die hours earlier. The girl could see Sidoh, because the piece of paper was from his death note (that Ryuk had stolen.) Ryuk released a sandbag, and Rem dropped through a trapdoor as he did to fake her death. Since Sidoh had never seen a shinigami die, the ruse was enough to convince him. Then, Rem took the knife and shackles they got from Sidoh, put on a disguise, and made her way into the shinigami realm to rescue Ryuk after he was escorted into the realm.

Rem feeds Ryuk an apple b/c she figured he'd need one after this many days. After Ryuk eats it and straightens out,

"Rem, I have no idea what you're doing in a shinigami's body when it's obvious you should've been an angel or something."

"Please-that's not necessary," said Rem, trying to sound stern as usual. It wasn't working, though. Ryuk saw the smile playing at the corners of her mouth. Ryuk would've like to let it stay there a while longer, but what had to be done had to be done.

"Bad news, Rem. Justin's been captured."

"I know. I saw him as I came down here."

"What do we do now?"

'…We're going to have to come up with a new plan, plain and simple. With Justin captured, I think we're the only ones left who can still do something…" Rem says as she pulls out her knife.

"You ain't doing nothin'," says a voice from behind them; Kinddara and a few others. Fight scene, they capture Ryuk and Rem and drag them outside, to see the King holding Daril by her wings.

"Good work, Kinddara. That's what loyalty's all about. As for you, Daril…I'm very disappointed."

Daril looked disappointed, too…and frightened, as she looked up at the King's gleaming metal scythe.

"What do you have to say for yourself, Daril?"

Daril didn't look at the King. She spoke to Sidoh instead.

"Remember what I said earlier, Sidoh. Rem isn't the dangerous one here."

"Daril?"

"I've already had one traitor of high influence set the precedence of punishment…you can have the same as him."

"Daril? Daril?"

As the King brought his scythe up, Kinddara giggled, Justin shut his eyes, and Sidoh screamed, finally realizing what was happening…

"NO! DARIL!"

"I'm afraid so, Sidoh. A traitor's a traitor," said the King.

Daril and Justin are both chained to the stake now, wingless, back to back and unable to turn around.

"I'm sorry," said Daril.

"Sorry for what?" Justin asked.

"It's my fault Ryuk and Rem got caught. I was too busy feeling sorry for myself to think…I should've helped them more…I should've been watching, so I could've gotten away from the King and warned them…" Daril starts crying again. "Everything's my fault. Look at what's happened, all because of me…and what's happened to you. It's all my fault. I'm so sorry."

"Don't beat yourself up, kiddo. You were down in the human world all this time. You didn't know."

"It's still my fault. I'm horrible…look at all this…"

Justin felt her head turn…he turned his head in the same direction, towards the endless rows of caged shinigami. He felt a drop of moisture fall onto his shoulder.

Once again, something lit up in the back of his mind…this wasn't as clear as the memories that had popped up…it was more of a feeling: an instinct, if you would. But it told him what to do just as surely as the clear memories had.

He felt around until he found Daril's hand. Grabbed a hold of it.

"Don't beat yourself up. Ignorance is not a crime."

Daril squeezed back. "I'm scared. I don't want to die. I deserve it…but I'm scared. When do you think…?"

"The King's not using the puppet to speak anymore; he's showed himself to everyone, and he isn't using that paternal tone with us…he's killed about thirty shinigami without concealing it, and he cut our wings off right in front of everyone. He's given up on looking powerful, or benign, and he's relying purely on fear to keep his supporters under control. He doesn't care what we think of him anymore."

Daril's hand started to shake.

"Soon, then," she said.

"Yes."

It wasn't just Daril's hand that was quivering now-he could feel her entire body shivering against his back…

"Buck up, kiddo."

That was what Daril had been telling Sidoh lately, trying to encourage him…so that was where she'd heard it before…

"What's wrong with you, Justin? You shouldn't be trying to console me! You should be furious, you idiot! It's my fault you're going to die!"

"Actually, it's the King's fault. You're claiming far more of the blame than you deserve credit for. He's a master manipulator, that shinigami…I would've done exactly what you did, if I were in your situation."

"Yeah, right. Cut the crap, Justin. You're too smart to fall for him…and you were too brave to give in…"

"Intelligence and bravery have nothing to do with it. Intelligence doesn't count for much when all your information comes from one manipulative source, and I'm no braver than anyone else in this realm. I'm lazy, too…when Ryuk brought Rem down as evidence that his story was true, back when this all began, I would've been properly frightened, but I doubt I would have done anything, if not for…" Justin trailed off.

"If not for what?"

"Nevermind. It's nothing."

"Really? You don't strike me as the sort to organize underground rebellions for nothing."

"…Don't laugh."

"I won't."

"You were too young too have any memories, but I wasn't…I've been doing a lot of thinking back over the last few months, and so many memories have gotten clearer. I remember having a father and mother…if I concentrate very hard, I can hear their voices sometimes. I remember my brother much more clearly…I don't think we were ever apart for our first few decades of life…we played together all the time. We fought a lot, too. Mostly about the solutions to games of hangman. More often than not, we just used those to insult each other. I don't think the fights ever lasted long, though. Usually we'd just collapse into laughing fits. And…I think I remember you, too, only much, much smaller..."

Daril sniffled, but in it, there was a trace of her odd little high-pitched giggle…

"That must be nice, being able to remember all that."

"Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't. It isn't very nice right now…I told everyone I went against the King because I didn't want to die, but the truth is, I did it because I remember having that family, and what it was like to be a part of it…I did it for them, mostly. Because I know the bastard killed them. It feels like I've let them down, in a way."

"You did awesome, Justin. Better than any other shinigami in this realm could've done. They'd be proud of you."

"Think so?"

"Yes."

Pause.

"Are you going to let go of my hand now?"

"Do you want me to?"

"…No. Not really."

"Then I won't."

"Thanks. Thanks a lot."

"No problem."

Deridovely goes to Gukku's cage.

"Hey, dude."

"What do you want?"

"Sorry, man. The old geezer's making us take everyone's death note."

"Yeah? What for?"

"There's gonna be an extreme level punishment…you know, for Rem. I don't know what the old man's gonna do, but he says he needs everyone's death note."

"Give him your note, then, cause I'm not giving mine up."

"He's gonna take mine anyway. Everyone's note, man."

"You're still not taking mine."

"Don't do this to me, Gukku. If you resist, I'm supposed to stab you and take your death note when you turn to sand."

"Go ahead. I dare you."

"Really, man…don't make me. Please."

"Drop dead."

Deridovely flinched. "I deserve that," he admitted. "Look, dude, I'm in too deep. The old geezer's probably watching me right now. If I don't do it…"

Gukku didn't answer.

"Fine," said, Deridovely, his pleading expression turning to a scowl. "You asked for it."

Gukku yelped as Deridovely lunged, pressed his back up against the side of the cage toward the tower. Deridovely kept making slashing motions with the knife…but he wasn't even close to touching Gukku with it…

"Scream," he whispered.

"What?" said Gukku.

"Come on, dude! Scream!"

"Oh! AAAAARGH! OOOW!" Gukku yelled, hoping it sounded realistic.

"Now pretend you're hurt!"

Gukku flopped down on the cage floor with a theatrical moan.

"Don't you forget that, you punk!" Deridovely shouted as he kicked some sand into the cage.

Gukku stayed down, covered his eyes in a pained gesture…and felt his death note slip away.

"Hey!" he shouted.

"You're hurt, remember?" Deridovely whispered. "You resisted, so I cut you up bad and took your note. That's the story, so stick to it, okay?"

Deridovely started to walk to the next cage. He looked back at Gukku.

"What the hell, man?"

"Sorry. Really sorry, dude."

Ryuk is chained to a stake miles away from the tower, with Sidoh watching over him. The King comes down. He knows that his policy is that "bloodline is worthless," but…dammit, Arva was a good mate, and he wants to at least do this for her. She'd probably be upset if he simply killed her last baby without giving him a chance at redemption. He tells Ryuk that Rem is about to be killed, and that unlike the rest of the shinigami, he won't make Ryuk watch, because he and Rem seem to have a bad habit of saving each other at the last minute. He says he doesn't blame him for being drawn in by that little hellcat; after all, she can be very persuasive and convincing when she wants. He offers Ryuk a chance to redeem himself and stand with the King once again, but Ryuk just spits on his feet.

"Go to hell, you whack job son of a bitch," said Ryuk.

Moloch watched as his own arm reflexively hit Ryuk in the face with the blunt end of his scythe.

Ryuk wiped the sand off the corner of his mouth. "Ow," he said mildly.

"Pardon me. I meant to say, go to hell, most great whack job son of a bitch."

Well, at least he'd tried, for Arva's sake.

"In that case, I'll be back to kill you after I've disposed of Rem. Watch him until I get back, Sidoh."

On the King's orders, all his (somewhat) supporters are moving the cages. As the last few are being moved, the King grabs the stake Daril and Justin are chained to, and drags them off. (Kinddara can make fun of Daril here, if she wants.) He sets them up just outside one of the recently reopened climate vents…(mention that with mild disgust and annoyance, the King notices that the vents have a layer of glass in them when he opens them…no doubt from the superheating of sand. However, he smiles as he realizes that this is to his advantage: instead of just throwing Rem and the death notes into the pit, he can make her death much slower and more poetic.) He piles up everyone's death notes in the vent (if some escape before he has the chance to kill them personally, at least their lifespans will run out eventually), and then throws a chained Rem down on top of them. He pokes a small hole in the glass with his scythe, and fire strews forth, setting all the death notes on fire as he leaps out.

Meanwhile, Ryuk is lying prone on the ground, chained by his ankle to the stake. Sidoh is thinking about what Daril said.

"You okay, Ryuk?"

"No. Absolutely not. Why would I be okay, Sidoh? Rem's probably dying right now, and I can't do jack about it."

"And you're gonna die soon, too."

"Yeah. I am. Thanks. I almost forgot."

"…Rem's not really crazy, isn't she?"

"No. We were just trying to scare you into blabbing."

"I think Daril thinks the King was lying. I think she thinks Rem was right all along, and that's why she let her down into the dungeons without a fight."

"Bravo, Sidoh. You're getting smarter every day."

"…The King's really gonna kill everyone, isn't he?"

"Yeah."

"…That sucks."

"Yep."

Ryuk plopped his face back down into the dirt. He tried hard to concentrate on apples, remembering the names of the Japanese task force members, his own upcoming death…anything but Rem, or the way the sun glinted off her when it hit at the right angle, or the way she smiled and laughed when he actually got to her with a good joke…or what she probably looked like now. He tried not to imagine her face caked with her own wet, beige sand, or her body hacked unmercifully into bits…

Ryuk heard a 'click' as the pressure around his ankle disappeared.

"Huh?" he said, picking his face up out of the dirt to see Sidoh standing over him, holding an empty shackle.

"What are you doing, Sidoh?"

"I don't know."

"…Why?"

"I dunno that, either. I…"

Ryuk stood up…he didn't exactly know what to do…but he felt what to do. "Sidoh," he said. "Rem wasn't the only one of us with a knife. Before we did that thing with the warehouse, we had two, and we split them up between the two of us. Rem got the one we took from you…and I still have Kinddara's old knife," Ryuk said and he pulled it out from his back feathers. "The one that gave me that scar on my wing when she threw it at me."

"What are you going to do, Ryuk?"

"…The King needs to be stopped, Sidoh. If I can sneak up on him right now, somehow…it might be our last chance."

"…Thanks, Ryuk," said Sidoh. "I…I'd help, but…but…well, you know how I am. I'm just as much of a chicken as I've ever been; the only thing that's changed is that I'll admit it now. I'd probably just screw everything up."

"Thanks, Sidoh. You're still a decent guy, after all."

Ryuk spread his wings and started to flap, but then he stopped.

"Hey, Sidoh…" he said.

"Yeah?"

"You might want to run away, just in case I don't…well, you know."

"He'll find me eventually anyway. He's the King, after all."

"Well, then…do you at least want to make it look like I escaped, instead of you letting me go?"

"That might help. If it was an accident, he might not kill me right away…"

"Okay. Here's the story. It turns out I had a knife hidden on me- that's true, the proof's right in my hand- but what actually happened is that I surprised you with it from behind, slashed you on the wing, and forced you to pick the lock at knifepoint. That way, you also have an excuse for not chasing after me or fighting back."

"Okay."

"If the King comes back here before I do, will you be able to slash your own wing, Sidoh?"

"…No. No, I don't think so."

"Okay. I'll do it now, then."

"Thanks, Ryuk. You're a real pal."

"Don't. You're making me feel like a hypocrite."

Ryuk held out Sidoh's wing…

"Wait! I changed my mind! Don't do it!"

"…Okay. Then you'll do it yourself?"

"No! …Never mind what I said. Just do it."

"Okay."

"No! No! I changed my mind again!"

"Sidoh…"

"Okay, okay, do it."

"Here goes…"

"GAH! Don't do it!"

"Sidoh! Yes or no?"

"…Uh…uh…yes…no…I mean yes..no!..um…"

Sidoh lay on the ground, clutching his bleeding wing.

"Sorry, Sidoh. We don't have time for you to stand around waffling, I had to just do it."

"Owwww….n-no problem. It's probably better that way."

"If I do it, I'll come back right away and patch you up, okay? If I don't, and the old man gets me, this is probably gonna be the first place he comes anyway, so you'll be taken care of somehow."

"Yup," Sidoh groaned.

"You hold that closed, okay? I want you to be alive when I get back."

"Sure thing. Good luck."