Authoress Note : Well everyone it's that time. The last two chapters. You know I've been writing this story for little over a year now. I started it first back in…the fall of 2008 and it's now 2010. So…this story is 2 years old now. WOW. I'm so shocked. I'm surprised. This is the final chapter: extra. The two final chapter extras that will fill in the unanswered questions in the epilogue. You know I figured once I finish this story I can focus more on Origins. I'm glad everyone was so supportive of the story even after it ended. I thank you so much from the bottom of my heart. Once again it's truly been great writing this story and I hope you guys will continue to support the Life Script for generations of Death Note fans to come. Not 'Life Note'. Life Script. So that you know.
I want to further extend my thanks to the reviewers especially because of all the care and support the story has been given and I hope that these last two chapters help clarify any questions that may not have been voiced for the epilogue.
So everyone, enjoy the first part of the chapter.
Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. Death Note belongs to Tsugumi Ohba and Takashi Obata.
Disclaimer 2: The idea of the Life Script belongs to me. Please do not steal. Thank you. Any Original characters, Keegan Phelps (no relation to Michael Phelps), belong to me. Thanks.
The shinigami realm, as stated before is a desolate wasteland. It is like a desert that is dry, with a stiff breeze, and no living thing exists within its bounds. All the shinigamis that reside within the realm are of course spread out and pay no mind to their surroundings. This was probably the third or fourth trip Keegan could remember through the realm.
Each trip there was less pleasant than the last but she had grown used to the feeling…of her stomach dropping, of puking her guts out, and feeling a bit emptier inside with each trip. She walked with Ryuk for a while, now back in his shinigami form, as they trekked along through sand and waste. The air had an unusual sort of taste to it than it had before when Ryuk would lounge here endlessly until he had dropped his Death Note.
Keegan had her hands shoved on her pockets, with the Life Script tucked under her shirt as they traveled along.
"Keegan…are you sure you didn't want to just fly back home on the plane?" The shinigami asked her as he floated at her side. Keegan had nearly forgotten he did have the ability to levitate and fly.
"I am NOT riding 17 hours with you on a flight again Ryuk." Keegan growled through clenched teeth. "I insisted on it to begin with anyways. I told you we were going back home this way."
"Yeah…but it feels kind of…I dunno…" Ryuk tried to describe how he felt about coming back here. "A little dangerous?"
"You're worried?" Keegan asked.
"Aren't you? I mean, that trick we pulled last time with that 'Spirit Council' bit won't work twice in a row." Ryuk told her. "That was a pretty good trick. Those two idiots Deridovey and Gukku may look smart but their brains are all gamble and no common sense."
"Not like you?" Keegan chuckled.
"Hey. I'm your boyfriend. Any shinigami has to have a high level of intelligence in order to achieve that or they're just really stupid." Ryuk snickered.
"Gee…you have both of those qualities to such a lovely degree." Keegan told him sarcastically while scratching her arm and then shuddering. "Did it get colder?"
She stopped suddenly when Ryuk grabbed her arm and pulled her back, his teeth gnashing protectively. "Hey-"
"Shut it…" He hissed at her as he stared ahead cautiously. As Keegan stood behind Ryuk she felt that cold shudder flow through her again and she turned to look behind her at a rather gruesome looking shinigami staring at them.
"Uh…Ryuk-"
"…There's one behind us isn't there?"
"…Yeah." Keegan said.
Ryuk craned his neck slightly as he turned to look ahead at Zellogi, a particularly Native American garbed shinigami with one of his hands replaced by what looked like a hook attached to a short wooden pole. "Well. Well. If I recall correctly…" Zellogi began. "The last time I saw you it was when you possessed that mad human that thought he could rule the world with your notebook."
The shinigami approached and Ryuk gave a low growl. "And the last time I saw you, you and the others were doing nothing but gambling your lives away."
"You sound like you've taken a different approach to the human world Ryuk." Zellogi said, ignoring the sneer in Ryuk's tone. "So what? You switched up for a different human?" He said, looking over at Keegan. "Female. Scrawny…" He squinted as he read her lifespan. "And an unusually long lifespan."
"Spit it out Zellogi. What do you want?" Ryuk asked as Keegan listened to the conversation. Whether she was afraid or not, she wasn't entirely sure what to feel because the whole conversation interested her.
The other shinigami paused and looked Keegan over again. "The others said they saw someone that looked like you a while back. Some kind of uh…surveyor?" He asked her.
"Don't answer that Keegan…" Ryuk warned her.
She frowned. Though Ryuk's efforts to protect her were valiant and he meant well Keegan didn't have anything to be afraid of as she spoke. "Hey, hunchback. That headdress come from the last shinigami that died or did you make it yourself? I'm told not everyone has the same intelligence here. Gee…that sounds so human." She made sure to say human with such insult that the other shinigami took notice to it.
Zellogi was taken aback by the response and he saw Keegan's brow had a cocky sort of quirk to it.
"Very spicy mouth you have…human." He inhaled deeply
"Oh. You're so smart enough to establish that? Your friends weren't." Keegan said, taking a step forward. "You have questions to ask don't you?"
"Ooh. Very smart too I see." He gazed her over once more, sizing her up, reading her lifespan. "…you just don't have an exact death date do you? I wonder why that may be."
"So what?" Ryuk asked.
"Ryuk…" Keegan said, holding her hand up in front of him to stop him from doing something careless. "I'm not worried."
"Why?" He asked. She glanced at him and her gaze shifted down to the notebook under her shirt. Keegan was referencing to the final rule in the notebook.
"Oh." He said.
Zellogi inhaled again and paced in front of them. "You know…there's been many a talk about something precious here going missing…"
"Oh please. If it was so precious it should have been protected better." Keegan rolled her eyes.
"So…by the sounds of it you apparently are in possession of it."
"Would you rather the truth or a lie?" Keegan asked him.
Zellogi pondered for a moment. "Well…I'm a shinigami that is naturally curious like Ryuk. So to hear about the banned notebook's use in the human world was…quite interesting to say the least. Then again it surprises me since how boring Ryuk is."
"You don't even know Ryuk that well to call him boring."
"Well…not like you apparently."
Ryuk's eyes blazed and Keegan held him back. "No. He's not worth it."
"Just let me kick him…" Ryuk pleaded. "It'll be quick."
"Now Ryuk…just because he's got a rude tongue doesn't mean we need to show him the same courtesy." Keegan advised, turning towards him. "We'll take care of this."
"If you are in possession of the banned notebook…you don't realize how much trouble you're in." Zellogi warned.
"Why's that?" Ryuk asked, suspicious.
"Well…not to put a damper on your human's parade but you've been observed closely by the Realm's Advisor. You know. Armonia?"
"Yeah. The one with all the shiny doo-dads. I know about him…what of it?"
"You may say…he's requesting your presences now that you are here. You, female-"
"What's your name?" Keegan asked Zellogi suddenly before he could finish the end of his sentence. She tapped her foot in annoyance when he had begun to refer to her by anything other than her name.
"What?" He asked her stupidly.
"WHAT. IS. YOUR. NAAAAAME?" Keegan said, a bit slower, a little louder, and with some obnoxious sarcarm.
"…Zellogi. What does it matter to you?"
"Okay. I'll call you Zellogi. You call me Keegan. Show me the same courtesy I show you. I'm not 'you human' or 'female' or 'it'. I'm a person just like you and it's just a bit of respect I like to establish when I'm introducing myself to someone." Keegan gestured a bit and gave the other shinigami an annoyed look. "Sound good to you?"
The shingami scratched at his headdress and sighed. "Very well…"
How did Keegan manage to have that affect on another shinigami? Maybe it was her attitude or perhaps the fact that she didn't seem to have any fear when speaking directly to a shinigami because she had Ryuk there. It could have been a number of things.
"This is no ordinary human, Zellogi." Ryuk informed him. "She's special."
"I can see that…" He said with disdain as Keegan's eyes narrowed at him.
"You were saying something earlier, someone wanted to see us?' She asked him.
"Yes. The Realm Advisor. Armonia Justin Beyondormason."
"Hella long name…" Keegan said, somewhat unimpressed by the way it was said. "And what would he want to see us for?"
"He knows we have the Life Script." Ryuk answered. "He watched everything...I know of him. I don't know him though."
"Well we don't have to go see him…" Keegan scoffed. "It's their fault for leaving it unprotected and-"
"If you fail…to go to see him," Zellogi began with a sigh. "You'll be put on trial and will most likely have to go through the shinigami levels of tortment. I doubt a human would survive long in one of those. No matter your lifespan length."
When issued under the threat of death…well more so death for Ryuk than Keegan she became concerned. If anything Keegan wasn't afraid to die because she had experienced it so much and the most extreme form was when she had been involved in the accident with her parents. Keegan had even taken on death itself when she faced Light Yagami but…losing Ryuk would be like losing a part of herself and she bit her lip before grabbing Ryuk's hand tightly. "We have to go…"
"Keegan…" Ryuk said with a growl. "I'm not going to let you do this-"
"Ryuk, I promised I'd protect you from losing your life this way and I intend to stick to it. If you have a problem it you can wait here while I go into the 'jowls of Cerberus' to make sure we resolve this issue." Keegan said to him. She was angry, clenching her fists and her voice shook. "So help me if I lose you…"
"Okay. Okay. Fine. We'll go." He told her, putting a hand at her back and glaring back at Zellogi.
"You will go on ahead until you meet Nu."
Oh yes. Nu. Only one rank lower than that of the Shinigami King. It wasn't hard to figure that she would be their to guide them to the Realm Advisor.
They went on for a bit, Keegan and Ryuk remained in silence as they walked together until Keegan heard something that sounded like a hiss and a worm-like shinigami slithered in front of them.
"Are you Nu?" Keegan asked.
The creature, adorned with many eyes with many different gazes did not speak, but only nodded to them and the flick of her tail signaled for them to follow her.
More silence. The more Ryuk thought about how much Keegan was willing to risk for him, the more he became concerned for her safety. What did she think she was doing? Going this far for him wasn't worth it? Just because the notebook said that she would die when he did shouldn't have meant taking it seriously. Yeah okay. So Ryuk was her 'boyfriend'. So he cared about her but…did she really have to go this far as to risk everything for him?
"Keegan…"
"Yeah?"
"Why are you risking this for me?"
"You know Ryuk…I'd rather lose my life than lose you." Keegan told him. She took his question to heart and reached forward to take his hand in hers. "Regardless if I had the Life Script or not."
"It still doesn't feel right to me."
"…It will."
The moment Keegan looked up she found that the shinigami in front of them had stopped and all of the eyes were staring at her.
"Yes?" She asked, somewhat awkwardly as she didn't know what else to say to Nu.
"…It is…strange. What I see in your lifespan. There is…emotion." The voice was a low whisper, almost a hiss in a sense that it could barely be heard.
"I get that a lot." Keegan shrugged.
"…you have some lovely shades to your eyes." Keegan complimented, trying to add some kind of respect back towards the worm-like shinigami and Nu's gazes blinked several times.
"They show I see all and am powerful. What do yours do for you? You only have two."
Keegan shrugged. "I don't know. I've never thought of it myself. I guess you could say…my limited sight of the world allows me to expand my thoughts on it and see more even if my 'sight' is limited." It was hard to explain since she didn't understand the question asked to her.
"He is this way. Ahead. Just under this cave entrance." The cave, Nu referred to happened to be dark, dank, and littered with rusty objects and tarnished jewelry. The structure around it was covered in rib-caged sort of bones and she gave a small nod to the many-eyed shinigami and pulled Ryuk along with her.
Before entering he gaze, Keegan took one more look back at the other shinigami and gave her a small wave. "Um…thanks. For leading the way."
"You need not thank me. I am doing this because I want to see what happens next. I may see all…but I cannot see the future."
"Something tells me going blind is in your future."
Keegan frowned at Ryuk's brash remark and chuckled nervously. "He's an asshole…"
"I know…" Nu answered. "I see. All."
They entered the cave. Keegan inhaled stank and it was a horrible scent. She winced as they crept inside. There may have been little light on each side of the cave walls but it showed little illumination and Ryuk's eyes were the only thing that glowed in the darkness.
"Is it me or does it really, really, stink in here?"
"Only to the mortal scents it does." Came another voice as they reached the end of the cave and Keegan observed a shinigami, attached to some kind of throne, covered in a lot of gold and jewelry.
"Yeah? Well try walking a mile in our shoes and you'd know what I mean." Keegan said, plugging up her nose by pinching both sides of it together.
Armonia, the Realm's Advisor came a bit more into their vision as the lights on either side of them lit a bit more. As the light clarified his appearance, Keegan got a better look at what he was covered in.
"You know, if you're as old and precious as all that jewelry looks so MANY explorers would have tried to strap you to their ships and bring you home you've got so many riches on you."
"Only fools make trouble with cursed gold. All of these are mine. YOU may not touch what belongs to me."
"Ew. No thanks. I don't know where it's been." Keegan declined, to assure him she meant having no interest in his precious gems. Ryuk snickered and the other shinigami slammed his hand on the rotted wooden table in front of them.
"Silence!"
"What?" Ryuk asked. "It was funny."
"Well, you are not here simply because something is funny. You are here because something serious is in the works. Now answer me this, the notebook of Life went missing some time ago and of course the most likely suspect in the matter is you, Ryuk." Armonia pointed a withered, ring-studded, finger at him and Keegan flicked her fingers against the table at this shinigami's attitude.
"Gold is only worth with how shiny it is. Yours is looking a bit tarnished. Is that why there are wasted remains of it outside?"
Armonia glanced at Keegan with disgust. "What does it matter to you? It was rotted. It wasn't worthy of me wearing it anymore-"
"Think of it this way then. The 'Life Script' was 'rotted' and nobody saw it worthy of being used. So what problem should it be if it was never properly secured to begin with?" She asked him, her hands pressing against the table and the shinigam's eyes, which were also jewels, stared at her in anger.
"What do you imply, human?"
"I imply that you're no better in saying those jewels were worthless than saying the Life Script was as well."
"She's got a point there." Ryuk agreed.
"I did not ask you to speak, whelp-"
"Hey!" Keegan snapped, slamming her fist on the table and it shook. "Look at me when I speak to you…you tarnished piece of worthless pyrite crap." She insulted him, her tone venomous. Armonia glowered at her with those bejeweled eyes and she stared right back at him, just as irritated as he.
"You should be careful with how your tongue strays." The shinigami hissed at her. "You are not in familiar territory for mortals and it would not do well for you to speak out of turn here."
"Bite me." Keegan said, not really caring at the moment. "I'll show you some respect when you talk a little nicer." She explained to him. "I don't like rude people. This also accounts for shinigamis also considering you guys ARE a form of people also."
Armonia grumbled. "You came not here to argue." A sigh and then he removed a tarnished piece of jewelry from his body, which was covered by some kind of gold or jewels everywhere. "You came here because you have possession over an object that was originally property of this realm. It use has been abused, causing panic amongst some of our brothers and sisters…" He trailed off glaring at Ryuk.
Ryuk, of course not feeling mutual on Keegan's politeness policy, mouthed the words: 'Fuck you' to him.
Armonia was displeased and returned his attention to Keegan. "…You are strangely garbed. Mortal. Is it your skin?"
Skin? Was he talking about her clothes? "No." Keegan answered. "They're my clothes. Without them I'd be naked. Why is this relevant?"
"It intrigues me. The green, he referenced her sweater. The fabric of the skin covering on your legs…" Her jeans. He paused, trailing off when he caught sight of the bracelet she was wearing. This wasn't particularly her favorite piece of jewelry and Keegan was just wearing it out of a whim. It was that fake sort of gold you'd see when you went shopping at a Forever21 store and it turned your skin green. Which it sort of was in a sense.
"Ohhhh…." He said, preoccupied by the sheen of the fake wristlet and Keegan thought it odd that he was staring at it.
"Can I help you?" She asked when he leaned closer to observe the piece of jewelry.
"I've never seen actual modern, up to date, jewelry upfront from the human realm. Tell me. What kind of gold is that?"
"Um…the kind that turns your skin green because it's kind of cheap." She looked at Ryuk in confusion and he just nodded to her rapidly to appeal to the other's interest.
"May I…see it?"
"Sure?" Keegan said, lifting her hand up and showing him the piece of jewelry. It was interconnected by a plastic band holding the 'beads' together. The jewels in the center of the gold were fake onyx and of course Armonia suckered himself into being interested in it anyways.
"Hmmm…" He said, looking at it closely. Like he was determining if he wanted it or not.
"Um…the notebook. We were talking about the notebook." Keegan said, trying to get them back on topic.
"Huh? What? Oh yes. Yes. The notebook. Well…what you have done here Ryuk is most punishable seeing as how the notebook WAS in possession by the Shinigami King."
"The old man wasn't even doing anything with it." Ryuk said, putting the evidence out there. "It was wasting away. I was bored and dropped it…only more turned out than I thought it would."
"And look where it has you. A human carting you around like a mindless slave…" He said in reference to Keegan.
"Hey. Psst." Keegan said, gesturing the other shinigami to look at her. When his gaze was back on the girl she was dangling the bracelet in front of him and his gaze widened a bit. "Ohhh…so…unsual. Such a strange gold wristlet…"
"The notebook…" Keegan said.
"Oh. Yes. What of it?' He asked her, annoyed he was being distracted.
"What do you want with it?"
"The return of it. Then your fates will be decided."
"No can do." Keegan said. "The notebook has already determined me as its owner. It will not be pleased if I give it up so easily." She explained.
"Then you will both die."
"And then what?" Keegan asked, still dangling the bracelet.
"What are you getting at?" Armonia asked her.
"I think you know. Are you saying we will have to go to trial for this whole thing?"
"Hmmm…in a sense. Yes. IF your evidence and reason proves right and appeals to the King himself." His eyes followed the bracelet as Keegan moved it back and forth.
"And if it does?"
"He will spare the both of you. In all honesty…I can convince him of that IF you will make this traded bribery with me." He offered, holding his hand out for the cheap bracelet.
Keegan drew it away. "How do I know you'll keep your word?" She asked. "I'm told you shinigamis can be tricky. Ryuk sure was…in the beginning. But I've broken him of that."
Armonia pondered a moment. "You possess the notebook at this moment yes?" He asked.
"Yes." Ryuk answered for her. "Why?"
The other shinigami pulled out his Death Note and opened it in front of Keegan. "Rarely is this ever done but I will do what I can…" He wrote his signature on a single page in big letters and made sure that it was his name for the both of them to see before he tore the page out and handed it to Ryuk. "When on trial you must present this so that they know I agreed to this and that I did keep my word."
"If you just lied…" Keegan warned, before issuing him the bracelet. "I'm going to come back from wherever my soul goes…and I'm going to possess your body…and then I'm going to make you beat the crap out of yourself. Are we clear?" She asked him.
Armonia gave her a strange look. One that seemed genuinely afraid of that idea in general because Keegan meant every word she spoke and his hand shakily reached out to take the bracelet from her.
"Yes…and if you do come back…do you plan on killing me?"
"Please…you'll kill yourself before my vengeful spirit would even be through with you."
"…Agreed. You have my word."
"Good. Just remember. I'm coming for you if you lied."
"…Very well mortal."
"You are so awesome…"
"I know I am."
They left the cave after this exchange and as Keegan walked along with Ryuk he stopped her suddenly. "You know…this kind of thing. The whole human and shinigami thing? It happened once to another shinigami I knew." Ryuk explained. "I don't know what happened to her or how she died, but she disappeared forever."
Another shinigami? "Wait. This was another shinigami? And she fell in love with a human?" Just like Ryuk had with her and vice versa.
"Yeah…Her name was Rem. You remember that girl, Misa? The '2nd Kira'?" Ryuk asked her as they shuffled along.
"Yes. The annoying one? With the fake blonde hair?"
"Yeah." Ryuk said. "Her. The airhead. Well…Light tricked Rem. Rem was fascinated by love in general…and she ended up dying because of it. L…the one that almost caught Light before you, well…Rem had always hated Light. Not just because he was the way he was, but because he was using Misa to do his bidding, that he was manipulating his love for her. In addition to that…Rem's love for Misa became her downfall." Ryuk stopped short.
As Ryuk told her the sad story of Rem, Keegan was touched by the tale…and yet angered because Light had literally had this shinigami purposefully killed because she was interfering with his plans. "How did she die, Ryuk?"
"Light tricked her…into killing L with her Death Note. He told her Ryuzaki (that was L's alias) was going to torture more information out of Misa…and Rem fell for it. She wrote his true name in her Death Note because she knew it and she died. The only way you can kill a shinigami is with love." Ryuk explained to her. "Shinigamis are not supposed to interfere with human lives by saving them. I guess that's what the Life Script was created for. Whatever reason it was made…it had to have to do with that sort of thing."
Keegan sighed. "You know Ryuk, sometimes I question myself when I have the desire for someone to die. Like…say I see these horrific crimes on the news and I'd say at the television…that I'd hope they would kill the criminal for what they did. Then I'd realize I'd be no better in wishing that than the murder he or she had committed." The young woman pondered on her thoughts. "I guess…when I lost my parents I became completely numbed to death that when I wished it one a criminal…I wouldn't think about it…or care because I felt it was justified depending on the crime. But after Light Yagami decided to try and rule the world with that sort of power…I thought differently and…I became more respectful towards life because you have to live it to the fullest…even if your time is short."
Ryuk chuckled, a bit cynically. "I never understood you humans and the way you live your lives. It's…strange, but it's also interesting. Maybe I was wrong the entire time about you humans being boring. I mean…to some degree the way you live your lives is interesting."
"Excuse me…" Came a meek sounding voice not far from them.
"But I'm looking for my Death Note…have you seen it?"
Keegan turned her head slightly in the direction the voice came from and Ryuk tried to keep himself from snickering. "Pardon?" Keegan asked.
It was Sidoh. To Keegan he appeared exactly as he sounded. Like a bird. A very soft and timid bird at that. Scratch that. A mummified, timid, bird.
As Sidoh gazed at the two he realized not that long after he was taking directly to a human and he babbled incoherently as to what a human could be doing in the shinigami realm. "A human! How did you get here? Oh no. We're in trouble. The humans are trying to take over the realm, Mello's coming after me!" The other shinigami began flailing his branch-like arms around as he moved back and forth quickly.
Keegan watched this odd feat with some humor before she remembered something. Mello. Keegan remembered that name. Matt had explained it had been a friend of him.
"Hey Sidoh…" Ryuk spoke casually. "Keegan. This is Sidoh. He's a weakling, a coward, and I stole his Death Note so I ended up getting two Death Notes. He doesn't know this but we're actually gonna give his back to him."
"So you're always been a thief then?" Keegan asked him.
"Yeah. So sue me." Ryuk grumbled. "Sidoh." He called again.
The other shinigami made a terrible wailing noise as he ran back and forth before Keegan's leg stuck out and he tripped over her foot. "Wah!"
She frowned down at him and poked him with the toe of her shoe. "Excuse me." She said to him.
The other rolled over suddenly as he was being spoken to and she gave a short wave to him. "Yeah. Hi. You're running around like a maniac. Mind explaining yourself?"
"Don't take me back to Mello. He'll be angry with me…he scares me." Sidoh whimpered, his rounded teeth clicking together as Keegan stared down at him.
"Geez Sidoh, you deaf? I've been calling your name several times." Ryuk said, shuffling over next to Keegan to stare down at the other shinigami lying on the sand.
"Ryuk?" Sidoh said in surprise. "What are you doing back here? And why is this human with you?"
"Remember how you thought I stole the Life Script?" Ryuk asked him.
"…You did take it didn't you?" Sidoh said flatly, not happy with the answer he received.
"Yes. He did steal it. He gave it to me. We're trying to resolve that problem right now. Do you need help getting up?" She asked the poor shinigami. He was on his back and looked like a helpless turtle.
Sidoh, unsure of how to respond, lay there for a few moments blinking at her and Keegan waved a hand in front of his face. "Hello?"
"…You want to help me?"
"Uh…sure. Why not?" Keegan asked him, holding her hand out for him to grasp. "I'm not contagious?"
"And you don't know Mello? You're not gonna make me go back to him again are you?"
Was he actually that stupid? Or did he just happen to be that clueless? Unlike most shinigamis, Sidoh did not have an entirely high level of intelligence and it didn't shock Ryuk because he knew Sidoh that well.
"Um…Mello's been dead for a long time now." Keegan said.
"Oh."
The branch-like hand shakily reached out and Keegan pulled Sidoh to his feet. Which was odd considering how light he was to pull up. "…Thanks." He told her. "So…why are you here with Ryuk?"
"The notebook." Ryuk told him. "We got in trouble. Well…we were going back to Keegan's before we got into trouble."
"In other words, most of the community here knows that we're part of the turmoil." Keegan explained.
"Keegan. This is Sidoh. Sidoh and I are very well acquainted with each other. Sidoh's an idiot. Sidoh this is Keegan. Keegan is my new human. She takes good care of me and I'm not opposed to protecting her. So don't get any ideas…"
Sidoh blinked a few times. "He gave my notebook to you?" He asked her.
"No…he gave the OTHER notebook to me." Keegan clarified.
"Oh. Wait. The one that's missing?"
"Yeah. The one that's banned here apparently."
"Ohhh…then where's mine?"
"Do you have it with you Ryuk?" Keegan asked him.
Ryuk fidgeted a bit before he reluctantly pulled out Sidoh's Death Note. "Yeah…I got it." He held it out to Sidoh and the branch-like arms reached out to take it and Ryuk held it over his head. "Come on short stuff, jump for it." Hegrinned.
"Aw come on Ryuk, that's not cool. Come on. Gimme my notebook!" Sidoh whined.
This sight was sad to watch and a bit annoying at the same time. "I guess bullying knows no bounds in the shinigami realm either?" Keegan asked ryuk and he turned to look at her.
"What? I'm just playing with him."
"Give him his notebook Ryuk. He sounds like he's been looking for it for a long time now." Keegan tapped her foot in annoyance and Ryuk dropped it on Sidoh's head without thinking.
"Owwww." Sidoh whimpered as he plucked the notebook off his head. "Yay. I finally have it back. I can re-lengthen my lifespan again."
"Again?" Keegan asked him, unsure of what he meant.
"Well Keegan, I mean you said it yourself. Nothing is entirely mortal. The age thing also applies for shinigamis. When we feel our lifespan running out that's when we kill humans." He explained to her. "Or sometimes we just do it because it amuses us to some point. Like with my issue."
"I know…but you mean to tell me that Sidoh has been without he Death Note for so long his lifespan-"
"Yeah. It was running out." Ryuk said. "I mean…for shits and giggles I could have let him die." He glanced over at Sidoh skimming the pages of his Death Note.
"It's kind of sad." Keegan said. "That you guys have to kill in order to survive."
"..It's a way of life. Not many shinigami care about the lifestyles of humans like I do. Honestly Keegan…your lifestyle is the only one that matters. I don't care about the rest of the humans."
Keegan watched Sidoh silently as Ryuk spoke. "So when were you in the human world Sidoh? And for how long?"
"I was there for a while. I went simply because I knew Ryuk was the last one to steal my notebook." The timid shinigami looked up at her. "Why are you in the shinigami realm? In trouble I mean. And why did you help me up? I could have just been left there…"
"Well…" Sidoh was shorter than Ryuk, but still taller than Keegan so she had to look up at him when she spoke. "I guess you could say I'm a people person. I like helping others…even if they're shinigamis."
"…you helped Ryuk kill others?"
"Uh…No. But I helped Ryuk by giving him something he didn't have." Keegan explained.
"…The ability to not steal things?" Sidoh asked. It was plain to see that no two shinigamis were alike. Sidoh was very different.
"Well Sidoh. Ryuk didn't have any friends. So he's my friend…even if he's a shinigami."
"Isn't that against the rules?" Sidoh asked.
"Well…tell me, have you heard of a rule that says a shinigami can't be friends with a human?"
Sidoh thought for a moment and answered. "Well…no not really. I think humans are scary actually."
"…Do you think I'm scary?" Keegan asked him.
"No…you're nice. Which is weird. Mello was mean."
"No two humans are alike, Sidoh." Ryuk explained to her.
"Well…we've got to get going because metal head might try and call us back again." Ryuk said trying to usher Keegan along.
"Can I come with you…?" Sidoh asked suddenly. "Nobody likes me very much. And you've been nice to me so far."
Ryuk shook his head frantically at Keegan as she listened to Sidoh's request. For one thing Sidoh was a hinderance, he was annoying, and Ryuk didn't like him very much for several reasons. Not just because Sidoh was weak, but because he was pathetic and not very many liked him either. Which was tragic, yet true.
It was strange to Keegan how she found herself more used to the shinigami behavior than that of people back home in general. She found it strangely fascinating. Not just the whole aspect of the shinigami realm, but the actually residents of the realm itself. Sure. It was an unpleasant place but it was home to them. Just like the Human Realm was home to her. Sidoh's pathetic behavior mimicked that of someone who really did have that sad of a life where he had no friends and the least she could do was let him tag along. He seemed nice enough.
"Well…I don't mind. Ryuk might though." She told him honestly.
"I don't want him to come with us…" Ryuk grumbled.
"He won't be with us the entire time." Keegan said, taking Ryuk aside to whisper to him.
"Sidoh and I have our difference. I stole his stuff. How do you know I won't do it again?"
"You won't. Because I'm here and I'll kick your ass if you do."
"Grr…"
"Don't you growl at me mister." She scolded him.
"Fine. But I want him gone after he says 'he feels better'."
Keegan understood. "Sidoh, you can come with us. But you have to go after you don't feel bad anymore okay?"
Sidoh scratched the top of his head in confusion at the acceptance to his request and he floated over to them. "Okay. Where are we going?"
"Well…you tell us." Keegan said.
"Have you ever gambled before?" Sidoh asked.
"I don't like to gamble. It sets a bad example of how to spend money…and life spans. Ryuk told me you guys gamble your life spans away when you're bored."
"It's boring to even play anymore…I lose a lot. So I try not to play as much."
"Maybe you guys should try gambling for other things than life spans. The same way Ryuk likes apples-"
"Shinigami apples aren't for shit." Ryuk hissed. "They're just dry and nasty. Not juicy and sweet like Human Realm apples."
"Or chocolate." Sidoh added in.
"Chocolate?" Keegan said quizzically.
"Yeah. I like chocolate."
"…You guys sure are a weird bunch."
"Do you have any chocolate on you?"
"I wish. I could go for some right now. Is there such thing as shinigami chocolate?" Keegan asked Ryuk.
The other shinigami paused for a moment before snickering.
"What?" Keegan asked.
"Shinigami chocolate."
"What-Oh Ryuk! That's just wrong!"
"I don't get it…"
"I'll explain it to you later Sidoh. Ryuk's being gross."
Authoress Note: Well everyone this is the first part to the last two chapters of The Life Script: Extras. Hopefully you'll all get some comic humor out of this one to some degree because it gets really serious at the end in the final part.
I chose for more shinigami interaction with Keegan seeing as how she's seen nothing but human interaction for the whole of the story. More shinigami interaction was needed and I figured nearing the end of the story would be the best time and place for it. I went back in Death Note: "How to Read" and looked up many of the shinigamis and tried to get a betetr feel for them as I wrote their characters and how I think they could be protrayed as.
I was REALLY cautious about writing the character for Armonia Justin Beyondormason because: 1. He has a very long name. 2. I'm sur enot every shinigami would appreciate a human being in the shinigami realm. 3. Though no shinigami is entirely stupid, I chose to protray the more serious ones with ways to be easily distracted.
So hopefully this clarifies anything.
Thanks for your support. Read and Review.