CHAPTER 7:
"The First Death Note"
Clavis felt Raye Penber struggle hard against his grip. But he held firm, like a wrestler with his opponent in a lock hold on the mat. His own legs wrapped around Penber's lower limbs like a coiled snake for further security.
He may have not looked it, always wearing a loose fitting elevator operator coat, but Clavis was incredibly strong. He liked to stay in shape, even though it wasn't needed in Quindecim. But the ladies loved a good looking fellow. There was only one time anyone saw him with his shirt off and that was when Castra accidentally walked in on him when he was changing after a visitor to Quindecim was nasty to him, pushing into a water fountain.
She didn't think he heard her when after she apologized, and walked away, she muttered, "Like a Greek God."
Soon, after that, they began to get closer, once the ice was broken, he approaching her, knowing his feelings about her were shared, and they began to get more acquainted, teasing each other with jokes and romantic hints.
"Get off me, you son-of-a…"
"Chill dude. Settle down!"
Clavis pinned Raye to the floor, his entire body used as a weight. Very quickly, an audience gathered. But Castra stopped anyone from calling security forces—for which Quindecim had. Clavis said he had the situation under control, and he put more pressure on Raye's arm, as he forced it behind the ex-detective's back. Even a dead person could feel pain. The idea that a person in death felt no more pain was a myth.
Raye grunted. "Why didn't you tell me Light Yagami was here?"
"Because of this exact reaction, Penber," Clavis said. "You were never to know. You two were to remain apart, cast in the same situation with the Death Note. Now lighten up, for lack of a better phrase. Things are not as bad as they seem. I never thought I'd be wrestling on the floor like this here. Now settle down, or I'll really hurt you!"
"Better listen, Penber," Castra said. "Clavis isn't kidding. He knows a lot of ways to hurt a person." Castra explained how, even in spirit form, or in "doll-form", a deceased person could still be harmed by certain methods.
Raye grit his teeth and then seemed to give up the ghost, per se, and relented in his struggle.
Clavis felt the fight leave the man. "We cool now, Penber? Or, are you going to fight more?"
Raye grunted again, but said: "I yield. I won't struggle anymore. Just, why didn't you tell me…"
Clavis heard the man mutter his last words, but didn't respond to them.
Clavis let him go, and then got to his feet. Two buttons had been pulled out of their holes his jacket during the struggle, and he righted things. He refused to look sloppy, especially in front of Castra.
Castra told everyone to get back to work, there was nothing more to see. They dispersed.
Penber didn't run. He sat up, and felt his hurt arm, the arm Clavis had yanked behind his back. Getting to his feet, he said, "You owe me an explanation."
"You're owed nothing, Penber," Clavis retorted. "However, I'll show you something that may bring you some solace when it comes to this whole Death Note thing. I think you should know something about your situation. Come, both of you. Follow me."
Raye continued to rub his arm, as Clavis lead him, with Castra in tow, out of Administration, and through a series of corridors, that felt like a maze. Only a person who knew where they were going could navigate with such ease.
They walked in silence, until they arrived to a set of double doors, then entered into a large rotunda, filled with fauna and flora—a lush Arboretum, that contained two twin water falls that dropped into lung-shaped pools. Separating them, was a half-moon bamboo bridge that lead to a Greek-like pedestal with a square glass encasement on top that covered something.
Clavis lead them to it. Inside was a book, and it looked ancient.
Castra glanced around. "What is this place, Clavis? I never knew it existed. It's so calm and serene?"
"Most people wouldn't," he responded. "When we passed through those double doors, we entered through a barrier, into a pocket-dimension, that can only be accessed if you have the correct authorization, for which I have. And since you are with me, I allowed you both to enter. You two need to see this."
"You're no ordinary elevator operator," Raye Penber repeated his sentiment from before. "How can someone like you access a place like this? Who are you, really?"
Castra had a look on her face as if mentally asking the same question.
"Quindecim is not only a realm of judgement, but there are other things so mysterious, and so frightening about it, that if you knew without being prepared, they would terrify you down to your very soul. But that is not of concern at the moment. Over time, you'll get to know this place better. It's mysteries and strange happenings. Right now, this book is our focus. This is why I brought you here."
Clavis escorted them to the open book under glass. On the back of the pedestal was an electronic keypad with a series of nine characters, but they were not numerical. Clavis went to press a few of the characters, when he stopped, his fingers hovering over the keys. "On second thought, showing you is good enough. It's a cursed book."
Raye Penber stepped up and looked at the leather-bound book. He had his hands up to the glass, but at the last second didn't touch it. The curative language in the book was one he didn't recognize, even picturesque. "What am I looking at? It's old writing…"
"It was found deep in a cave in Ancient Sumeria, in the Human World," Clavis explained. "And it is over ten thousand years old, as far as we can age it. But it could be much older. We placed it under a barrier because whoever touches it, will be cursed for all time, or that's how the story goes. What you're looking at is a very, very, very old Death Note. And one of the very first known to exist."
Flabbergasted, Raye looked at him wide-eyed. "When I first came to Quindecim, I was told about the Death Note, after I had my awakening with an Arbiter, but I never thought…"
Castra looked at it, but even she couldn't decipher the writing even with her knowledge of ancient text. And she knew a lot.
"Shocking, I know," Clavis replied. "This is one of the oldest Death Note's found. It once belonged to a Shinigami who was judged in Quindecim—well before I came here. He was sent to The Void. He was the only one to escape it before the Void was reinforced. He was captured and is now chained down in the Void like Prometheus of Greek lore. He resides there now. And every one in a while, his hate reverberates the very foundations of this place like an earthquake."
"You are full of surprises, Clavis," Castra remarked. "I never knew such a creature was in the Void?"
Clavis nodded. "I'll tell you about it sometime," he said. "Believe me, it took a lot of will power to keep this to myself. Oculus didn't want me telling anyone." He smiled with his boyish grin. "But the cat's out of the bag now."
"How well do you two know each other?" she asked.
"Very well, we have the same shoe-shiner."
Castra gave him a condescending look. She didn't look at his shoes.
"I'm not a historian," Penber then interjected. "How did Quindecim acquire this book?"
Clavis thought about it, then just said, "You're one of us now, so…This Death Note is very special, because like another 'note book', this book can also bring a person back to life and restore them to any point of a person's choosing, similar to a device we have that does the same thing. The device was actually derived from the technology written in this book, because along with its power, it is also an encyclopedia of cosmic knowledge. However, only Oculus wishes that knowledge to be known to the upper echelon."
"What's this other 'notebook' you spoke about?" Castra asked. "Are you talking about the Life Note?"
Clavis nodded. "Yup, and owned by that little Imp, Morph, the last of The Brigade of Life."
Raye Penber waved his arms in the air. "Whoa! Wait! You've lost me. Life Note? Brigade of Life? Sounds farfetched."
"On the contrary," Clavis rebuked. "There are countless cosmic forces at play for life and death. Many years ago, there was a great battle between The Brigade of Life and the Shinigami. The Brigade of Life wanted to preserve life, and save souls, while the Shinigami were engaged in what the Brigade referred to as the genocide of the humanoid race—and the human realm that you know of is but one realm where human's like yourself reside; call them alternative dimensions, if you wish. Anyway, the Shinigami were writing human names down in record numbers. The battle ensured for a very long time. In the end, Morph became the last of his kind. But then the Shinigami became lazy, and only killed when they had to. These days, there nothing but a bunch of lazy bums. However, Morph and Light Yagami have encountered each other on two separate occasions."
"Is this Morph an ally of Light Yagami?" Penber asked.
"I wouldn't say that, but he does act like a Shinigami. Yet he's more dangerous. And he enjoys playing around with humans. He can appear anywhere, and at anytime, and be anything he wishes, like a chameleon, and has been known to observe universally.
Omnipresent, is the term. The laws of space and time, even of physics, don't apply to him. If he wanted to, he could alter the very fabric of the universe. But he hasn't. And he has been known to take life for his own reasons."
"Could anything be done if Morph chose to alter certain events?"
"That's a question to ask Oculus. Even my knowledge is limited on certain things." Clavis cleared his throat. "But back to the issue at hand. I'm here to tell you that there is a way for a person who writes names into a Death Note to enter the Void, but only if they so chose. They can't be sent there involuntarily. So, for example, in your situation: If you so chose to enter the Void, even after you wrote those names down in the Death Note, even tricked doing so, you could enter the Void. However, Resurrection is off the table for you." But before Penber could ask why, Clavis shrugged, and said, "That's just how it works. You wrote in it, end of story."
"That's no choice," Penber frowned. "It wasn't my fault! Light Yagami tricked me into killing my fellow agents." Clavis put a hand up, and Raye quieted. It was a sign, as if to say, arguing would solve nothing. "But," Raye went on calmly, "I do wish to know what happened to Naomi, my fiancee. Has Oculus been able to locate her yet?"
Just then, Oculus walked through the set of double doors, his hands folded behind his back in a causal manner. He was an ease-going person, thin, with round spectacles, and a turnip for a head, some would say, with twisted hair in a bun, and a goatee. He wore brown shorts, sandals, and a blue, vertical, striped dress shirt. He was an elder, but his mind was sharper than most.
He put up hand, and said, "Hello Clavis, hello Castra, and good evening to you, young man. Raye, is it?"
Raye said, "Yes sir."
Oculus came over. "No need to stand on ceremony, Raye. You're one of us now. In that respect, so is Light Yagami. I couldn't help overhear certain things and I wanted to clarify them." He eyed Clavis, giving him a stare. It was a look of disappointment. "I don't know why Clavis decided to show you this, but he must have had a good reason—this area being highly sensitive and off limits to most people without proper clearance. Nevertheless, Clavis and I, despite outward appearances, go back a long way, and I afford him a few luxuries and privileges most do not have. His cover is an elevator operator, but he is so much more. Without getting into too much detail, let's just say: I am the Gatekeeper and Clavis is the Key Master, to reference a certain movie from human idiom."
"I love that movie," Clavis began to say, before Oculus gave him another stare. As if to say: Shut up.
Oculus then ventured to the pedestal and placed a hand on the glass that covered the ancient Death Note. He seemed to stare at it in thought for a few moments, then turned around, and looked at each of them in turn. Clavis saw something in the man's face that worried him.
Oculus then looked at Raye Penber. "Young man, would you like another chance? At life, that is?"
Raye Penber's eyes lit up. "Sir?" he questioned.
"I can give you life again. Your death was a mistake. It shouldn't have happened in the way it did. If you wish, I can restore you back to the land of the living. Would you like that?"
Clavis saw Raye look at him with confusion.
Clavis was also befuddled. "Oculus, that's never been done before," he said. He and Oculus shared a look, and Clavis immediately took that as, "I'll explain everything to you later."
"Well, Raye?" Oculus wished for an answer.
"Yes, most assuredly yes!" Raye replied. "But how?"
Oculus explained the details will be laid out soon. But he had to confer with Clavis and Castra for a moment alone. And they went outside in the hallway, well out of earshot to do so—leaving Raye Penber alone.
Here Oculus frowned, even angrily. But not at Clavis.
"Something has gone terribly wrong," Oculus said, when asked. "Somehow, the Shinigami Special Advisor/Arbiter sent to us, gave Light Yagami one of our devices that reverses time. We don't know how. We, the Council and I, suspect, Light's old Shinigami ally, Ryuk, may have been involved, disguising himself as a human, this Ryu fellow, and the Shinigami representative. With others, they have sprung Light Yagami from Quindecim. And we also suspect, Clavis, an old friend of yours is in cahoots with them."
"That's impossible!" Clavis said. "Only an Arbiter has the power to go back in time. And only with the sacrifice of another being could Light Yagami even live again. And what do you mean by 'a friend of mine'?"
"That's the strange part," Oculus said, answering the first inquiry. "We found Duo, the Special Arbiter dead, or rather his 'essence' sucked out of his body in a closest; his body nothing more than a dried-up husk. This is being investigated. But we need to keep this quiet. It would disrupt all of Quindecim if this incident got out into the public." They all agreed.
"So, that's why you offered that deal to Raye Penber?" Clavis said. "Do you want Penber to hunt Yagami down? Discreetly?"
"Yes, with one other," Oculus said. "Things are being arranged as we speak, permissions granted; favours called in from the highest older. This is very serious. Only once has this every happened in the history of Quindecim, and it was rectified swiftly. Light Yagami, in essence, has cheated death. The Council is not pleased and they want this settled quickly. Humans hunting humans, sounds like fair game to me. And I always enjoy a good hunt. You and Castra will go with Raye Penber. I want Light Yagami back here ASAP!"
To be continued...