14. CHALLENGER
A gathering of Shinigami for a celebratory banquet is tantamount to a graveyard of dancing corpses. At least that's what Light observes when he first enters the large dining room filled to the brim with monstrosities of all shapes and sizes. Several rows of tables, able to seat hundreds, stretch from the entrance and reach to the back of the room where a platform rests for someone special. The ceiling is decorated with what should be a chandelier but looks more like a great beast with a thousand candles for eyes. Light's never taken gods as the kind to bask over death. Death seems like more of a habituate ritual they participate in but never like to drink and be merry over. There's a strange ounce of humanity he finds in this room.
"There's our champion!" someone yells from across the way, thrusting a mug into the air. Light lifts his head to attain a better angle.
"Nexys?" He approaches the slug's table and finds Nym there as well. "What are you two doing here?"
"We came to the city to see if you and your companion had made it. We didn't expect to find you fighting in the Pits," Nexys says. "Shame what happened to your companion."
"Not really," Nym quips.
Nexys chuckles and tosses back a drink.
Light imagines if Ryuzaki were here he'd have choked the both of them for that insult alone.
"Shame about your arm as well," Nexys adds.
Before he had been escorted to the dining hall, Light had taken the liberty to hide his newly acquired limb within his long coat, letting the left sleeve loose and limp. Strangely, he has grown accustomed to its feel—like the limb has secretly always belonged to him. Ryuzaki, meanwhile, hid among the cell's shadows. Dawn has passed, and their cell has enough darkness to hide someone twice their size.
Light sits down on the end of the table. Nexys pours him a mug and slides the drink over to him. Light sips and wrinkles his nose at the bitterness. "Is this supposed to be wine?"
"No, it's beer," the slug answers. "Wine is for the nobles."
"And I suppose those are apples?" Light gestures to a bowl of prune-like fruit in the center of the table that some Shinigami take turns eating.
"Nope, oranges."
How disappointing. But Light should consider himself relieved he doesn't suffer from hunger pains anymore, nor does he need to worry about such a human necessity. He continues sipping the irritable drink, playing along. "I never would have thought Shinigami would celebrate like this."
"We never have," Nym reveals. "This is all new to us, but strangely…it's fun."
Light leans forward, resting an elbow on the table and his chin in his palm. "Is it? I'm glad you seem to be enjoying yourselves."
They share banter for a time before the bustling in the room settles and then ceases into memory. Light shuts his mouth tight as a familiar figure enters the room, looming over everyone. All conversations end when Kinddara makes her appearance. Close behind her, several followers carry her throne. Light sits up but lowers his head as Kinddara passes his table.
The throne lowers at the far end of the room, on top of the platform. Kinddara takes her seat. With a motion of her skeletal hand, one follower pours her a glass of wine while another heads back through the room to Light's table.
"The queen would like to speak with you."
This is it. Light stands, nodding his temporary goodbyes to Nexys and Nym, and follows the underling to greet Kinddara with a forced smile. "Good evening, Your Grace. You look positively…deadly this night. How may I be of service?"
Kinddara pauses, as if deciphering his smile. "Light Yagami, the champion of the Pits," she says his name and title beneath a mocking chortle. "The fool who calls himself Kira. The traitor who killed his companion." She stirs the wine in her glass. "Don't play dumb. You know why I've brought you forward." Kinddara turns her head to the rest of the room. "My fellow gods, I demand your attention."
Everyone looks up at her.
"Tonight, we celebrate another successful match in the Pits. Our winner entered the arena as an underdog. Someone not even I believed would last for very long. I don't admit this often, but, like many of you, I was taken by surprise when he turned his weakness into strength during the final round. And now he stands here as Light Yagami, your champion!"
Applause erupts for him, and Light gives a gracious bow. The loudest cheers come from his table, where Nexys and Nym sit. He has gained some recognition in the Shinigami world, and he feels Kami's eyes watching, pleased.
"But this shall not be the end for him," Kinddara continues, silencing the applause with a raised hand. "For tomorrow, he will step into the arena once again to grant you and I another bloody and satisfying fight."
The room rumbles with hooting and cheering and clapping. Light surveys his audience of gaunt, grotesque creatures and visualizes himself standing above his domain. He no long stands before an audience of Shinigami but an audience of humans—worshippers—who've traveled from all across the world to pledge their eternal loyalty to him. To commit themselves to the god of the new world. To Kira.
"Thank you, my queen," Light interjects. "I'm so glad to have entertained you and everyone in this room." He entwines his fingers and straightens his back. "That is why I don't intend on disappointing anyone tomorrow." He looks back at the queen, holding his gaze. "And neither will you."
Kinddara tilts her head.
Light returns his attention to everyone else as if he's addressing a conference. "As gods of death, you all have the luxury of immortality. Though, by the taste of your wine and fruit, I doubt most of that time is kept well sated. I assume that's why the pits exist. In the human world, we don't have the comfort of time. So we do what we can to make life worth living—the pursuit of happiness—as some would call it."
He notices a few Shinigami exchange glances and hears concerned whispering. But Light's face remains unchanged.
"And I firmly believe, as your champion, that the pursuit of happiness must be a cause to stand by." His gazes shifts back to the monster sitting in the throne. "Don't you agree, my queen?"
"What is this?" Kinddara snaps.
Light smirks. "This is a challenge. As champion of the Pits, I challenge you, the Queen of Blood, to a duel. If I win, I demand my Death Note back. If you win, you get to kill me."
A rumbling tension, like a tidal wave crashing against the shoreline, makes its way to the back of the room where it collides with the wall, practically breaking its architecture. The world freezes, becoming numb to the realization of Light's words. Not even Kinddara could have predicted this outcome. Light had promised them a show, and a show he shall give.
"Are you insulting me?" Kinddara's voice drops to lethal levels. "How dare you, you whelp. Seize him!"
Two followers grab Light by either side and push him to the ground. Kinddara stands and dangles something in front of him. "If you hadn't blatantly disrespected me in front of my own people, you might have had this in your hands by tomorrow evening." She opens the Death Note's page to Light's name and a pen materializes in her hand. "Watch closely."
Kinddara digs the end of the pen down on the first character in Light's name and the pen bleeds across the writing. Light grits his teeth as a searing pain, like a knife slowly sinking into his chest, overwhelms him. But through the pain, he manages to squeeze out a few words. "Is that…a refusal?"
Kinddara lifts the pen from the page, ending his torment. Her jaws are so close, Light worries they might open and devour him, tearing the flesh from his face and spitting it out into the audience. She stands. "I accept your challenge. Drink well tonight, Light Yagami, for tomorrow your mouth with be as dry as the wastes in which I'll dump your bones." With a nod, her underlings half-drag Light off stage and throw him into the silent throng of partygoers.
Light calmly returns to his seat, sipping through the rest of his beer and turning to a stunned Nexys and Nym with a sidelong grin.
Ryuzaki crosses his single arm over his chest and cocks a brow. "You said that dribble?"
"I wanted to create a sense of suspense. The best suspense will catch people off guard. Given everyone's reaction, I caught them off guard. That means I succeeded." Light places a celebratory pitcher of beer he received during the banquet down by the window.
"Or you could have simply said, 'I challenge you to a duel to the death, Kinddara.' Kept it short and mildly sweet."
Light rolls his eyes. "Still it worked. Now you need to focus on staying alive until I destroy her throne. Any ideas?"
"Look what I still have." Ryuzaki conjures something into his hands. He spins the scythe between his fingers. "I thought I lost it when we were captured, but apparently, with a little imagination, I can summon this when I please. I think I'll use this over the knife." The look on his face boosts Light's confidence.
"Or you could use the knife as a backup," Light suggests.
"Isn't that cheating, Yagami-kun?"
"There's no honor in the fighting pits," Light says. "It's do or die. Kinddara might have a few tricks up her sleeve, so be ready for anything."
Ryuzaki's hollow eyes stare at him and the scythe stops spinning, coming to a halt with a short clank against the cold floor beneath their feet. "You might be right. Ninety percent."
"Are you still on about that?"
"You should be relieved that the number's lowering," Ryuzaki says, flashing a smirk.
Light sighs, wondering if he shouldn't take the number so seriously. It's the least of his worries. He should be entirely focused on reaching Kinddara's throne tomorrow without being spotted.
A sting aches against the back of his shoulder. Light reaches up and presses a finger against the brand, massaging it. "Hey, Ryuzaki."
"What?"
"Don't die tomorrow."
The pale man's brows furrow, and he cocks his head to the side. "Is that supposed to be concern, Yagami-kun?"
"Just promise me, all right?" Light insists.
Ryuzaki purses his lips. "Very well."