CHAPTER 52:
"Zurn's Setback"
The Ethereal-ghostly form of Prometheus coiled around Zurn Wellington as he stood on top of the building that overlooked the roof of the Kira Task Force Headquarters. His Shinigami had the ability to take on many forms, but Prometheus's most agreeable form was that of a snake.
Zurn Wellington looked into a miniature Hole—a round black ball—a portable form of it that every Shinigami carried with them. It was a communication device, and a way to look into space and time, and into events past, present, and future.
The events that unfolded, his assassin killed, unnerved and angered Zurn. Christian Troy/Bryant Harvey would have died from the gunshot wound fired from Demetre Draycott's gun, but he was beginning to talk and he needed to be eliminated before he did. Zurn wrote the criminal's name in his Death Note just before he was able to say anything more, risking exposure.
Of course I lied to him saying Kira would protect him. No one is safe from Kira.
Draycott's Death Note originally had Christian Troy's name in it, protected the same way his own self was, using a form of the Infinity Rule—a Shinigami rule that protected its user from harm from the Death Note by using its own power against it. But Zurn had used a Death Eraser to erase the criminal's name and left Troy unprotected again, so he could used by himself—until now.
How Draycott originally got the villain's name was still a mystery. The teen was clever, too clever for his own good, Zurn concluded.
He had seen everything transpire live within this portable version of the looking glass and watched as the so-called sanctimonious, religious newcomer to the Savant Society, who prided himself in following his God's law and ways, shoot the mainstream media's greatest story grabber.
Now he had the same gun pointed at Light Yagami.
It's said, the first kill is the most difficult. But it gets easier after that.
Zurn laughed at the irony. Draycott had only made one kill with his Death Note and it was to protect himself when he was attacked in an alley by a thief when he first obtained it. Since then, he had not used it. But murder is still murder, no matter how its done.
Demetre Draycott killed Bryant Harvey. To Draycott, by virtue of his own religion—to kill another human being was a sin. But he killed another to protect his friend from being killed, even though Light Yagami had murdered with-intent hundreds of people with a Death Note. When Draycott finally met his maker, what would his God say? Would he be forgiven?
Killing with the Death Note gave its user a one way ticket to purgatory. A person was unable to go to Heaven or Hell. To kill even if it was to protect another person was just meant it was another way to get there. No matter what, Demetre Draycott was going to a purgatory of his own making. And even though Draycott couldn't die by the Death Note, it didn't mean he wasn't protected by other means.
Zurn thought about using the Death Note to kill Light Yagami by his own method like he had done with so many others—this way Draycott would never get the revenge he sought for for his grandfather's death. He knew Draycott wanted it, being against his religion or not. But what fun would that be? Kira deserves a renown death. Kira's death needed something more, Zurn knew, and not just some random heart attack.
Originally, he thought about watching and waiting until Draycott merely imploded. He could see how angry the kid was by the events he had become involved with. And his hatred would boil over when finally confronting Light Yagami. A showcase of epic proportions. The simple world Demetre knew had shattered the moment he picked up a Death Note and joined the Savant Society.
But after watching Draycott hand over the gun to former Chief of the NPA Soichiro Yagami, something else had to be done. And with his assassin failing, he needed another way for these events to conclude.
Prometheus had shown him the future and it was a dark one for the world.
Kira ruled over the masses with fear. People thought twice of doing anything against Kira's will, ever watching over their shoulder, or be killed. Zurn didn't like that world. And he wanted to eliminate Yagami in his infancy. Hiring Bryant Harvey to kill him was his best bet.
It didn't take much to manipulate Christian Troy. It was actually Prometheus's idea. Much like Geist, Draycott's Shinigami, Prometheus was a rebel, a rogue of his own design. Initially, Prometheus was assigned to Zurn when he became a member of the Savant Society, introduced to it by a friend. All members were assigned Shinigami as part of a cohabiting relationship within. But even Shinigami got bored with the mundane.
And so did Zurn.
Bryant Harvey was contacted and then threatened by Kira. He was told to meet an associate at a designated place where he would be paid handsomely for a hired hit job. Bryant Harvey said he was not a killer, but after he saw the money offered he soon changed his ways.
Unfortunately things had failed to go as planned and an unknown factor had interfered.
Zurn had underestimated Draycott. The kid was a pest. He still did not know how Demetre managed to learn his plans, but he knew Draycott needed to be taught a lesson.
Zurn's hair whipped around in a ferocious wind. A storm was brewing and it was near. He contemplated his next move.
"The plan failed, Zurn," Prometheus hissed like a serpent. "Light Yagami will fulfill his destiny. The others will not be pleased with you."
"Quiet!" Zurn ordered tersely.
"You were told you eliminate him," Prometheus went on, "because Yagami is a rogue and is unpredictable. There is no rule how a Death Note should be used, but as Kira crafts his new world the timeline will be altered. Draycott was never in the original Kira Incident. Some events that were once a part of the original Kira Incident that I observed are no longer and the Universe is realigning. Small changes create large problems. Geist and Draycott are a problem for the League of Darkness. Answers will be demanded from you of why you failed."
"I said be quiet! I'm thinking."
"Try not to think too long, or you will lose the opportunity to make things right. The time has passed to eliminate Light Yagami/Kira. He must be leashed now! Perhaps offers a position within the League of Darkness? This way will he be subdued."
Zurn turned to Prometheus as the Shinigami's head turned to face him, a serpentine tongue ejecting from its mouth. Its reptilian eyes bore into his skull as if trying to read his thoughts like—
Then it struck him: Adam Rothschild. The boy had the empathic ability to read a person's thoughts, or rather their emotions. For one split moment, the boy had penetrated his mind back at the Savant Mansion. Had he managed to get the information about Christian Troy to give to Demetre Draycott? Draycott must have realized the moment he heard the name what the implications were? Adam was Draycott's ally.
Yes, he realized, it makes sense now.
That was when the tables had turned and his plan to kill Light Yagami had gone awry. The boy had managed to pry information from his mind about the assassination.
He chided himself for his moment of weakness. He had gotten word from the High Council of the Savant Society that he was no longer welcome amongst their ranks now, no longer their enforcer. Naomi Misora had informed them of his extracurricular activities in trying to finance an agenda by adopting a Jack the Ripper Approach do take organs from unsuspecting vagabonds and sell them on the black market. His buyers paid him a fortune and Prometheus suckled every victims' remaining lifespan dry adding to his own.
He had to watch his back for now on when it came to Naomi Misora.
She did not know her real self—and ex-cop from the United States who had planned to marry her fiancée before he was murdered by Kira.
The events of that had been taken from her mind by Adam Rothschild to eliminate the effects of the Death Note imposed upon her by Light Yagami/Kira. One way to prevent its influence on a person was to erase their memories, the Universal Contract that the Death Note implores every time a name is written down in its pages would then be voided. She would have killed herself otherwise subjected to the Death Note if she hadn't been kidnapped on her way to commit suicide by a Savant Society member who just happened to be in the area where after seeing the interaction between her and Light Yagami.
She was a formidable foe and strong-willed woman even without her full identity. All she remembered was her name. But she still had "memory muscle" and instincts, which helped find him and discover what he had been doing secretly.
She escaped him before he could stop her and she told the Society's Council of his actions.
"So, what will you do now?" the Shinigami asked, as it slithered around his body like a snake.
The feeling Prometheus gave him as the Shinigami moved around his body created an almost sexual stir and he enjoyed the sensation it brought.
Its namesake, Prometheus, was a Titan God from Greek mythology—a trickster god who stole fire from the gods to give it to Humanity, and was forever punished for it. Zurn's Shinigami was punished in a similar way, its Ethereal form not original. Prometheus's body was taken away by the Shinigami King for a grave transgression and the cohabitation through the Savant Society was a form of redemption.
Prometheus still kept his Death Note.
But Prometheus had no intention of apologizing for what he had done—whatever that was. He hadn't told Zurn and Zurn didn't care. And he continued his trickster ways when he found Zurn. Prometheus found that his powers were greatly enhanced in this form. And much like the trickster God of Roman mythology, Loki, Prometheus shared similar traits of polymorphic transformation into anything he desired.
Zurn thought of his next move. But he knew he could only make one decision to make things right.
"I believe it is time I taught Demetre Draycott a valuable lesson in civility," Zurn decided. "I warned him not to cross me, but he failed to take it to heart. A grave mistake. Draycott is a religious person and he believes in his God's divinity. In his mind, all things happen for a reason. That it is his God's will. Let's see how he feels when his god fails to protect the people he loves."
To be continued...