Part Nine:
"Stage"
"Question," Morph said, standing up, a finger in the air. He walked out from behind Light's desk. Light recalled the Imp was only four and half feet tall, give or take an inch. Morph wore clothes that dated back to a style once familiar with ancient Rome: sandals, a white tunic, laced ankle bracelets—with a few modern touches: black fingerless gloves and a black leather belt with a leather book holster that carried the Life Note. "Tell me again, what changed your friend Demetre Draycott? I remember he was the quintessential religious, all-around good guy, with a high moral centre, who believed killing was a sin. Yes, he did kill a few times with his Death Note, but then he claimed it was for a 'good cause', and that God would forgive him. Now he works for you and he doesn't qualm about Kira's judgements."
Light took a moment. "The world can change a person, Morph," he said seriously. "He's been through a lot, including the death of both his parents, and others. Needless to say, he saw that what I was doing was the just thing to save humanity from itself, and now he truly believes his 'god' has given him permission to stave towards a common goal aligned with Kira."
"So, Draycott believes Kira's judgements coincide by his own deity's intentions now? Hmm," Morph said, and smirked, "what cruel irony, and how easily angels fall. Your friend once believed whole-heartedly in the notion that all life was precious. Now he dances with devils." Morph chuckled.
Light's left eye twitched irritated. "And what do you mean by that, Morph?"
Morph extended his hand and then being the cosmic being he was suddenly brought all the pieces of the broken "devil" mask together without any cracks or seams. It was like Light had never smashed it. He then placed it over his face and looked through the eye sockets at Light.
"Take that off right now!" Light shouted.
Morph lowered it, but the mask was replaced by a devilish smile. "Draycott enjoys biblical quotes, right? Hmm, what would be an appropriate one here? Oh, yes…Romans 5:12 says, 'Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.'"
The muscles in Light's jaws twitched and his teeth clenched. "How dare you!" Light refuted. "I resent the fact that you think Demetre has fallen. He still believes in justice. And Kira is that justice! The world is rotten and it needs to be reforged. By God's grace and will, Kira will remake the world!"
Morph's smile softened. "And you truly believe you can make that change?" he said readily. "Many others have tried what you have over the centuries, but it never lasts, and everything always comes full circle. It's the way of things." He shrugged. "Maybe, you'll fare differently? As I said, I can't see your future anymore. The Death Note is a game changer. I'm curious what you can do with it now."
"Trust me, Morph. I will change the world for the better if only some people would stop getting in my way."
"Draycott was never part of the original 'Kira Incident'," Morph said. "And he almost stopped you. He inserted himself because of Geist, a Shinigami from a thousand years in the future, who came back to change certain events so the Shinigami King wouldn't punish the rest of his kind because of what Ryuk did in dropping the Death Note. I'm glad Geist interfered. I don't like the King—for obvious reasons. He destroyed my entire race! And whenever I can, I always enjoy throwing a little chaos into the mix. That's why I changed the direction of the Death Note to fall to where you would pick it up. And it's also why I broke Ryuk out of Shinigami 'jail' and you out from Quindecim."
"You forget, Morph. Without Demetre, the Savant Society, or even the League of Darkness, may have seized the world, unleashing thousands of Shinigami to kill humans—taking their lifespans."
Morph nodded. "A cleverly crafted plan seeded by your ancestor Joseph Savant in cooperation with the Shinigami King," the cosmic deity told. "The Shinigami were reigned in because they were taking too many lives. Joseph Savant and the Shinigami King made a deal to allow the human population to flourish and grow, hence your ancestor created the Savant Society. The League of Darkness, however, refused to heed to the cult's ideals and separated. The end result was a civil war that destroyed them both. Little did they know that Joseph Savant's descendant would foil his plans." Morph laughed. "And the Shinigami King can't do a damn thing about it. I enjoy sticking it to that old goat!"
Morph paused, putting the 'devil' mask back on the Wall of Masks. It floated through the air. "By the way, would you like to know what the Shinigami King looks like? It's actually quite revealing." Light looked intrigued. Then Morphed smiled, and said, "Ah, maybe some other time."
Light frowned. "Goddamn tease," he murmured. But over the years, Light had formed his own image of what the Shinigami King might look like and he pictured the godly being like an old version of the devil from biblical lore with the head of a goat. So when Morph said, 'I enjoy sticking it to that old goat', that image he had returned to him in a quick flash.
Demetre once remarked that the bible never described the Devil's appearance. Over the years, the image of the 'evil one' had surfaced in artist renditions, and it had Satan as a grotesque, abhorrent looking entity. Much like the mask that Morph fixed and placed back on the wall.
"Another story you have to tell me, Light," Ritchie said intrigued. "The details of how you and Demetre defeated both cults is something you never told me."
Light nodded.
Suddenly, Light's phone beeped with a text. He looked at it. "Demetre is in the office lobby," Light said, revealing it to the others, "and he has his assistant Leopard Nétè with him." Light's brow rose. He wondered why Demetre had brought him here.
"That's my queue to leave," Morph suddenly said, "but I'll be watching."
The supernatural Imp disappeared in the blink of an eye. Morph had the ability to come and go as he pleased. Light could call on the cosmic god at anytime, but Morph only came when he thought it would to be to his most beneficial. Morph was like a Shinigami, he liked to be entertained.
A call then came to Light's cell phone. He answered it without thinking. It was his secretary. She knew he was in his private residence and this was the most direct way to get in touch with him.
"Mr. Izanagi?…" Light opened his mouth to reply, but stopped. He wasn't wearing a mask with its voice box. He gave the phone to Ritchie. Her voice heard again as he passed it over. "Mr. Izanagi? Sir?"
Ritchie smiled when Light passed it to him. He knew Ritchie got some perverse pleasure sometimes having to be the 'voice' of Shinto answering the 'bosses' phone when Light wasn't wearing a mask.
"This is Hayward, Mr. Shinto Izanagi's personal answering service," he jeered. Light rolled his eyes. "Mr. Izanagi can't speak right now." Ritchie smirked. Light's eyes narrowed, both annoyed and yet mildly amused by the jab. Ritchie listened. "I understand, send them through. Mr. Cottré has full access."
Light accessed the CCTV security camera in the office lobby on his laptop. And he wondered again why Demetre was bringing Leopold Nétè with him. Should he greet them in his office? Then decided against it. He trusted Demetre in what he was doing. He would meet face-to-face with Nétè in the Study. It would also give the man a rare behind-the-scenes view of the bosses' home reinforcing the niche of power.
Ritchie returned the phone. "This should be interesting," he wondered.
"Quite," Light said curiously. "If I recall, Leopard Nétè introduced Nicholas Leandro to Demetre for the Tsuku-Yoki Corporation to donate to 'Freedom First!'. Hmm…"
Light chose a suitable mask off the wall. He had different masks for different occasions.
Nicholas Leandro remarked that Shinto Izanagi looked like a revolutionary from an old British science fiction sitcom with the mask he had been wearing in the boardroom. Light had worn something plain, in his opinion, for the Board Meeting. This time, however, he decided to wear something slightly more intimidating for this encounter. Only Demetre knew the full details of this unscheduled forum, Light was curious what this was all about. However, Light told himself to expect the unexpected—learning this lesson from his encounter with Near in the warehouse wharf where he had been exposed as Kira.
Light fit the more heavier mask over his face. It perfectly molded to the contours of his face. He secured the back straps. He sat down in his chair behind his desk. Now, from an outsider's perspective, only thing 'human' that could be seen were his eyes, otherwise, his face was covered everything minus his hair.
No doubt now he really did look like a villain from the Dr. Who sitcom wearing a light steel mask, with perfectly symmetrical lines and an apparatus with slits to breath from, a voice box built in.
"Let us greet our guests accordingly, Mr. Hayward." Light said, his new voice reverberating mechanically.
Ritchie smiled. "Of course, Mr. Izanagi," he replied.
Ritchie cracked his knuckles. The man was an ex-fighter, but Ritchie had good instincts. From observation alone, Light knew there was cause for caution here. He hated surprises, much like Morph.
Time to see what this was all about, Light thought. It was time to play his part on his self-made stage.
To be continued...