Part Seven:

"Saviour"

Light Yagami gestured Ritchie to follow him into the Study, taking the book by Nietzsche with him. He asked Ritchie to close the double, glass doors behind hm. They were designed so no one could see in, but Light could see out perfectly, similar to one-way pane glass used in interrogation police rooms.

The Study was Light's sanctuary away from the world when the door was shut. When they were closed, it was signal to everyone he wanted to left alone. The room was also soundproofed.

Most of the time, the doors were open, because he enjoyed even the simplest interruption from Asumi or even Riki (which he promised himself that he would apology to). The room was adorned with trinkets and Shinto Izanagi's Wall of Masks. One wall was solely dedicated to them. Near the back, but centre of the room was a large Elizabethan dark oak desk with a laptop and a few personal items, including a golden scale of justice. Light put the book on his the corner of his desk.

There was a backdrop of three artistic motifs behind his desk of retro Japanese monsters. He thought they were representative of himself throughout the years—from conception of Kira to the present day.

One was a demonic frog with a Samurai riding on its back trying to tame it, the second had another Samurai with a knife in his mouth battling a monstrous carp fish trying to drown him, and the third was another Samurai in a death throe with a hungry Komodo dragon trying to devour the warrior. Each of them were symbolic of his epic struggle with the Death Note. To tame, weigh, and then to dominate!

They would await Demetre here. Their sudden presence triggered the activation of a flat screen television that hung in the upper left corner of the Study near the double doors. It was set to a local news channel but was on mute. At the bottom of the screen scrolled a marquee of stock market indexes. Ritchie finally gave Light back his suit jacket with his cell phone and Light draped it across the back of his desk chair.

Light put the white mask he wore at the board meeting back on the wall with the others. There were a total of thirty masks and each were unique in their own way.

Then, at that moment, a Shinigami portal burst into existence, carving a slit in space and time. It expanded into a circle with a radius, diameter and circumference of seven feet. It crackled with a raw but controlled energy. There was a slight wind, but it was non-destructive. Light's hair whisked about, but nonetheless remained unimpeded by the event. Ritchie narrowed his eyes, but he was unafraid.

A butler-esque man stepped out wearing a dapper suit. He was tall, young, with blonde hair. He bowed to Light, as the portal shut behind him.

Light knew exactly who he was—his name was PreVost, a Shinigami from the near future; half human. It was thanks in part to him Light was able to gain massive amounts of financial information to invest in to garner capital and to begin his rise to power. He could only go so far with the Death Note, a king needed money to secure his standing to create a brand new world, Light knew. And he had it now.

"Greetings, Master Kira," PreVost said with edict, bowing. "Please forgive the informal visit, but I wished to impart to you personally that the 'little matter' you asked me to handle has been settled. And as proof…" PreVost reached into his right jacket pocket and brought out a golden feather. He handled it to Light.

Light took it and smiled with a sinister glee. "After all this time, that swine is finally dead!" He laughed. "That bastard has been thorn in my side for far too long. How was it done?"

PreVost told him the details. The Astral God Crusade had abandoned Icarus a year ago, but allowed Icarus to keep his powers, albeit them diminished. Icarus had the ability to sprout golden wings from his back and fly like a god. Much like his legendary namesake that Icarus took to hide from Kira, he wasn't the god he claimed to be after he was forced to go into hiding after both the Savant Society and the League of Darkness were dismantled. Icarus was a creature of the shadows, but he enjoyed to torment Light at every turn. But now Light had had the last laugh!

Light crushed the golden feather in his hand and it turned to dust. He dusted his hands off. "My only regret is that I was unable to kill the murderous bastard myself! Astuko deserved better!"

Astuko Tairabayashi—the flight attendant he met on the flight he and the Kira Task Force took back to Japan from L's funeral in Winchester, England. Light met her on the plane, and one thing lead to another, and they became lovers, and later they close acquaintances with the Death Note as their aid.

Astuko knew that Light was Kira and offered her loyalty to him. But while Light dealt with Near and the SPK (the Special Provision for Kira), he also had to tangle with Icarus, and his sick and twisted methods of trickery and butchery. Astuko sacrificed herself to save Light during Light's last encounter with Icarus. Icarus had teamed up with Zurn Wellington, but their egos were too large to sustain their partnership and it ended as soon as it began. Demetre had also been involved when he and Light were still rivals.

PreVost was a half-breed. This meant he was demigod that shared human DNA. The concept was surreal, but in a secret note that Light found on the same USB stick with the financial data from the future, there was a note written by another Shinigami—Valtros—that Light knew from two previous encounters.

Valtros described these Shinigami and said they were all vastly superior in strength and intelligence. They were more powerful than normal Shinigami, but they had a major weakness—they could be killed by the Death Note due to their human half, if their full name was known. But PreVost knew how to protect himself and PreVost was only an abbreviation of his longer, given name.

Light was not told his full name and it was to protect PreVost.

PreVost bowed again. The Shinigami was completely loyal to Light. "That was my only reason for coming, I'm afraid, Master Kira," he said. "I knew you would wish to be informed in person. Some things are best to be delivered directly."

Light agreed, but he nonetheless enjoyed the posh Shinigami's company. For some reason, he felt a kinship with the demigod, a connection he could not quite explain. The Shinigami had saved him, indirectly, from a psychopath—Ken Kuzushi—when the old school acquaintance tried to kill Light quite few years ago. Kuzushi kidnapped had Light's mother and sister to get to Light for a past wrong, to take revenge for refusing his affections in middle school. Kuzushi was gay.

PreVost temporarily restored Light's memories—during that time when Light had willfully relinquished ownership of Ryuk's Death Note to throw L off his trail in being Kira—and with that help, Light was able to overcome Kuzushi's onslaught against him and save his family from being killed with a massive bomb!

Light cocked his head slightly. Thank you, he mentally voiced to his saviour.

PreVost seemed to smile tightly for no apparent reason. "I'll return now to my duties," the Shinigami said, crossing his right hand across his chest in a respectful, proper salute—like to the Master of a household.

Light knew PreVost's time was valuable and the 'half-breed' Shinigami spent a great deal of time with organizational tasks. He was also responsible for looking after Light's secret gateway in the Swiss Alps; a large, secret house Light had purchased with the ill-got gain he made on the stock market, visiting three times a year. He even once took Astuko there for a pleasurable weekend of skiing and coitus.

The Shinigami summoned another gateway, bowed in respect, a small wisp of wind blew through the Study, then departed within. It vanished behind the Shinigami.

Ritchie went over to the area of the gateway and swiped a hand through the area of space it had been. "I can never get used to that," he said. "There is so much more I would like to know about those creatures. The physics behind on of these gateways alone would be enough to excite the eagerest scientist."

Light smiled. "I agree, but if the world knew about Shinigami it would be disastrous. It would reveal that humanity isn't alone in the universe. The world is not ready to know yet. There is still so much more to learn about them and I feel privileged to be one of the few to know of their existence. Have I ever told you about the time I visited the Shinigami Realm?"

Ritchie's brow rose. "No, you haven't," he said intrigued. "I'm all ears…"

Light leaned his rear up against the edge of his desk, his thoughts inward. "It was a desolate and barren place. Think of the driest and more fallow place on earth and times that by a thousand. The sky never changes; so dark and gloomy. The land is ash and soot and all Shinigami do is wait out their existence in abject dissolution. Ryuk told me he dropped his Death Note to the Human World because he was bored. After what I saw, I believe him. To spend eternity in a place like that would bore more too." Light paused, his eyes moved from side to side as if recalling something. He looked back up. "I met a hostile Shinigami who threatened to kill me there—he had a hook for a hand. I was lucky he didn't skewer me; the realm is metaphysical, but I was real enough for the god of death to carve me up if he chose to. Shinigami don't like humans in their realm. We're only livestock to them. I'll tell you more about them sometime."

Ritchie nodded. "You've certainly had some interesting times, Light," he said. He then turned his attention to the wall of masks. "Your collection is impressive. You have a mask for every occasion and then some. And it looks like you've added to your collection, I see you've added three more."

Light nodded. He indicated at the new additions: a Japanese fox mask with black stripes across its cheeks with red pointed ears; a black and gold Zodiac Wolf mask; and a dark green Samurai Assassin's Demon mask with horns on its head, a rigid nose, and fangs in its mouth, frozen with a sinister laugh.

"There are certain masks I enjoy wearing more than others depending on my mood, and some—like my newest additions—are merely place holders," Light said. "I wore the mask I did today to impart a subtly."

"Anyone could be under a mask and no one would ever know it wasn't you," Ritchie hinted. "And with the voice box that you speak though, no one would recognize your true voice either. From what you've told me, I'm sure Near, the SPK, and even the New Kira Task Force, have your voiceprint on file."

"That was a prime tenant with my new identity as Shinto Izanagi and it fits well with the fake acid story."

Ritchie nodded. He took one mask off the wall and put it over his face.

Light looked at the mask Ritchie had chosen. It was a horned devil Seagoat clay mask painted in reds and blacks with dear ears, and two tall, pointed, devilish horns. It had a pentagram carved into its forehead. It was a unique piece. And yet Light didn't remember where he had picked it up.

Suddenly Light found it unnerving like he was staring at a demon and he grabbed it from Ritchie, he smashed it on the side of his desk as if to dispel an evil spirit. It shattered into several pieces. Ritchie was aghast after the fact. Light cleared his throat, and then tossed the larger chuck into a corner of the Study, where it shattered further. He never liked that mask anyway.

Ritchie swallowed nervously.

"What a shame, and I really liked that mask," came a voice.

Light turned to his chair.

A boyish Imp sat in it. He wore all white, like some sort of angelic deity. But he was far from pure. He was the last member of his inter-spacial species, as far as Light knew. Inside him, housed the essence of the last of his race that he kept safe feeding them with human energy that he drained from those he made contracts with in the Human World. Light compared Morph to something like a leech. Years ago, he was part of a fierce battle with the Shinigami King, Morph told Light. It ended very badly for Morph's people. The Brigade of Life were defeated with a nasty trick that forced Morph to flee with what was left of his civilization. However, with him, he brought the Life Note, a one-of-a-kind book that granted life to the recently deceased, curing them of any ailment within a seventy-two hour period.

This is how Light came back to life. Morph said he wasn't finished with Light. An unbecoming death for the great Kira—shot by one of his peers in a warehouse after Light had been exposed. Ryuk tried to take the remainder of his lifespan, but Morph was quicker, and killed Light instantaneously with a massive heart attack mere seconds before, which was a precursor of his intended plans to resurrect him later. If Ryuk had been first, it would have been all over for Light. Light's name was written down in Ryuk's Death Note, but it was also written down in Morph's Life Note preventing Light from dying from a Death Note now.

Morph looked like a thirteen year old boy and acute to all kids of that age, he was a genuine nuisance. However, without him, Light would not be alive today. So, he was thankful for Morph—who along with PreVost—helped bolster his rise to power as Shinto Izanagi.

Light was told he had two futures: one with the Death Note, and one, where he joined the NPA, and then was summarily killed in the line of duty in a shoot out against a gang of thugs. All his efforts to follow in his father's footsteps, all the years he spent garnering an eduction, his smarts, academics, and intuition, would have been for naught. This way, Light had a future.

To Light, picking up the Death Note had saved his life. And he had decided to make the most out of it. There were problems along the way, but he had weathered the storm. Now, a seething storm was brewing in Light, and wanted to unleash it upon the world—with his Grand Agenda, his plan to conquer the world!

And Light swore to himself that he would do it, one way or another.

To be continued...