CHAPTER 61:
"Axis of Evil"
The large 'Hole' sat in the middle of an enclosed, clandestine, dimly lit chamber, secured within an elegantly designed holder crafted to look like falcon's talon, deep within a secret lair controlled by the League of Darkness.
Surrounding it stood three individuals all gazing into its reflective surface. They were watching live events taking place inside the Savant Society, specifically inside Demetre Draycott's personal quarters, thanks to a mosquito-sized Shinigami who was there spying, able to see and listen to everything in real-time that went on, using its own portable 'Hole' as a surveillance device that every Shinigami possessed.
Demetre Draycott was leaving the Savant Mansion, packing up clothes and other items, including his now two Death Notes. With him was his own Shinigami named Geist and Draycott's recently deceased girlfriend's Shinigami Angel, and they were conversing and discussing plans to hunt down Zurn Wellington. Adam Rothschild, the extraordinary gifted young eight year old boy who had the power two 'feel' people's emotions, a form of psychic empathic ability, was with them with his Shinigami Cerberus. He was joining them.
A dapperly dressed gentleman in a black suit and white tie stood next to his Shinigami, he mused as he watched the events unfold. Todd Van Der Hydren, the leader of the LOD, was not happy about recent events that had unfolded. Zurn Wellington had failed to eliminate Light Yagami, Kira, and it was Demetre Draycott, an unforeseen factor in the Kira events, that had him concerned.
He gave a glance over to his Shinigami called Summoner, she did the same, both weary of Demetre Draycott and what damage he could do.
Summoner, Hydren's Shinigami, was completely veiled in a red tight burka-type shawl that hindered her face from view allowing only the whites-slits of her eyes to show. But it was evident that Summoner was feminine, exhibiting firm buxom breasts. Her entire body was covered from head-to-toe except for her white skinned hands.
The leader of the League of Darkness was known as the 'Dark One' because he used the darkest form of the Death Note and its powers to influence others to follow his lead. The Death Note was death itself whence a name was written in its pages, but it had more power than most anyone realized. All except Demetre Draycott, who appeared to have figured out some of its rich powers by manipulating it in such a way as to preserve his own life from being affected by its note. Effectively, he stopped it, rendering the Death Note's power useless.
It was called the Infinity Rule, but with it came a power the wielder possessed that could control other Shinigami to do his bidding. Draycott could gather an army of Shinigami by becoming ownership of their Death Notes and ordering them to do anything he wished, and they could not refuse. And they could not kill him because Draycott was protected by his own trick. This made him powerful and dangerous.
And he already had three Shinigami at his side, Geist, Angel, and Cerberus, with the empathic Adam Rothschild.
However, Todd Van Der Hydren was unafraid. He was conjoined universally with Summoner, so he shared her powers. When they were chosen for each other at the Savant Society, they were matched because they most compatible. Ideally, Told Van Der Hydren thought the philosophy adhered within the Savant Society about Human and Shinigami co-habitation was ridiculous and the world needed a change. Summoner agreed, and with Hydren, they abandoned the Savant Society and created the League of Darkness, recruiting like-mind Shinigami and people.
There were many different kinds of Shinigami and sizes varied. Some had solid bodies, some were ethereal and ghostly, some were aquatic, and others could cast special spells using Universal Constructs to control the deceased. Summoner was a spell caster and could summon scripts written in her Death Note that the undead must adhere to like laws. They were powerless against them.
Her Death Note was different. Instead of writing down names, she wrote down Shinigami names and took their remaining lifespans. Some Shinigami were immune to her spells like the Shinigami King and some of his higher council, but most were fair game. And because of Hydren's connection to her, he could use her power to control others to do his bidding.
Todd Van Der Hydren believed that power of the Death Note was absolute. The Savant Society was created out of the necessity to leash Shinigami from killing humans haphazardly. But the League of Darkness was created to allow Shinigami to do what came natural to them and to kill humans to increase their life spans, while controlling the Human World's population from growing exponentially.
Until Kira came along.
Then thousands of people started to die of unexplained heart attacks.
Kira was wasting valuable life spans that could be used to further top up those Shinigami that needed them. Therefore, Hydren knew it was necessary to stop Kira. He thought of first to leash Kira, to control him, even to ask him to join the LOD, but then it was thought best to just eliminate Light Yagami to regulate the situation completely.
It was all a game to Kira, a battle of wits against a super detective named L. But it was not a game to Hydren or the LOD. Zurn Wellington had been given the task to eliminate Light Yagami, but he failed. Light Yagami needed it to be controlled or eliminated.
But it was too late now for either.
Hydren knew Yagami would eventually get his power back after he found this other person who was posing as Kira in Yagami's instead, then Kira's real killing spree would begin.
But first, the collective inside the chamber had a different adversary in its sight, Demetre Draycott.
Todd Van Der Hydren breathed out.
"So, they plan on coming after me?" Zurn laughed. Prometheus, coiled around his body in its Ethereal form. Zurn stood next to Hydren, viewing the 'Hole'. "Let them come and I'll destroy them all. Their powers are pathetic compared to Prometheus."
Hydren eyed Zurn. The man was a brutish sort of man build like a body builder and he wasn't terribly smart. He also had a temper. It was unknown why Zurn was accepted into the Savant Society. It was after Hydren had left to start the League of Darkness. However, Zurn did have a powerful Shinigami and it made him a suitable ally to the LOD, so Hydren had recruited Zurn personally. And it didn't take much to convince him. A psychopath like Zurn Wellington always graved power.
Zurn watched Demetre Draycott leave his private quarters with Adam Rothschild in the accompaniment of the Shinigami in the 'Hole'. However, the mosquito-sized spy-Shinigami did not follow, not wanting to be caught.
"Don't be so overconfident, Zurn," Hydren said stridently. "Demetre Draycott is an unknown factor here. We have all seen the future and how Kira, Light Yagami, controls the world with fear for the next couple of years. The Kira Incident, as it will later be known, did not include Draycott originally, and the timeline has been changed as a result. Not by much, but enough to make a noticeable difference. The future is never absolute. Draycott could be dangerous and he must be watched closely."
"He is stronger and smarter than Light Yagami," Summoner spoke in a slithery tone of voice. "And my spells won't work on his Shinigami. Geist is protected somehow by a force even I can't penetrate. Maybe it is because he comes from one-thousand years in the future?"
"Oh please," Zurn said dismissively. "What can that fool do? True, Draycott was smart enough to figure it out a version of the 'Infinity Rule' on his own, a rule that creates a loop in the Death Clock so a person cannot be killed by the Death Note. But he refuses to use it to kill with it. Not utilizing it will be his downfall."
"The moment Demetre Draycott used the Death Note he became intertwined within our world," Summoner said. "It only takes one name to be written down for the laws governed by its pages to take effect. Regardless of his personal beliefs, the Universal Construct is absolute…It is Shinigami Law. Demetre Draycott cannot go to Heaven or Hell."
Zurn laughed. "According to Draycott's beliefs, to break God's law is to hold yourself in contempt of God's divinity. He killed, not only to protect himself when he found the Death Note, but also to protect Light Yagami from Bryant Harvey when I sent him to kill Yagami. While I didn't plan for things to happen the way they did, I did teach Draycott a lesson he will never forget. I killed his little bitch of a girlfriend."
"And now he's coming after you," Hydren said perturbed.
"And us," Summoner added. "You're just as much of a hypocrite as Demetre Draycott. To Protect And Serve, the policemen's code—you broke your own oath and became one of us. You are in no position to pass judgement."
"Bah!" Zurn waved Summoner off. "The LOD and I share the same values. I'm yours for now on. I've been put on paid leave from the NPA, suspected in participating in Black Market affairs—selling organs to willful buyers. It helped with few debts I had and Prometheus lapped up the plebs remaining lifespans. Prometheus's removal of those organs were surgical, it was a pleasure watching her work. Over all, a win-win, and exactly in-line with the League of Darkness ideals—eliminating overpopulation of the useless masses done right."
Prometheus's tongue slithered with pride, the Shinigami smiling.
Hydren exhaled. He couldn't argue with that. "But your actions drew too much attention," he said. "Cut all ties with the NPA."
"I already have," Zurn replied boastfully.
Summoner sifted through her Death Note, her boney-white fingers moving each page with precision and forethought of her intention. She stopped on a page near the back. "Ah yes, the Universal Construct can reset itself, just as I suspected."
"But you just said the Universal Construct was absolute?" Zurn rebuked.
"I had a theory, and my Death Note scripts, the spells I can summon confirmed it," Summoner replied. "There are examples throughout the years where those who have used the Death Note have managed to by-pass the rules and have gone to Heaven or Hell, but only with extenuating circumstances. For example, a great sacrifice that overrides the Universal Construct. But it is extremely rare. And it takes the will of a powerful deity to do so, a deity who can invalidate the natural laws of the universe. And there are such beings. But they care nothing about humans."
Todd Van Der Hydren looked at her inquisitively.
"Draycott has a righteous soul," the Shinigami then said, "but he only human. Despite being a good person, he will eventually fall, and he will fall hard into the depths of despair. I have foreseen it. I have taken notice of the timeline. The Kira Incident will continue as prophesied, but Draycott will forge his own path within its framework. Light Yagami and Demetre Draycott will meet again. If Draycott can crawl himself out of his emotional downtrodden, then the pain he suffers will bridge a gap needed for him to become one of the chosen ones with Geist at his side."
"Like I said," Zurn said, smiling with a sinister grin, "let them come, and I'll destroy them. And I'll kill Demetre Draycott. Trust me. Our rivalry isn't finished yet. He can't be killed by the Death Note, but here's more than one way to skin a cat!"
Todd Van Der Hydren looked over at Summoner and the Shinigami shared his glance, one of reserved trepidation.
To be continued...