The Life Script

by MadxHatterxTeapot

What if there was a notebook that could counteract a Death Note? What would it be like? Would the same rules apply as in the Death Note? Who's hands would it fall into? Would it be used for good or evil? Find out in this fanfiction. Completed: Extra 10 up (Fanfiction is currently going through a grammar and editing process, please bare with me new readers.)

38. Chapter Extras: Trial By Error Part 2

Authoress Note: Well everyone. The final chapter. The FINAL Chapter Extra. I hope you all have personally enjoyed reading the story as much as I have enjoyed writing it. There is no returning to 'The Life Script' after this. From here on out I will be refocusing on 'The Life Script: Origins' so that I can get back into the spirit of developing out how the notebook was created. So I thank all of you readers for your continued support of the story and your enthusiasm in such a positive way that this story can continue.

So for the last time, and I mean it this time until I finish Origins. Enjoy this final chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. Death Note belongs to Tsugumi Ohba and Takashi Obata.

Disclaimer 2: The idea of the Life Script belongs to me. Please do not steal. Thank you. Any Original characters, Keegan Phelps (no relation to Michael Phelps), belong to me. Thanks.

They continued on for a while, Sidoh followed them for a great deal of the time. Keegan eventually had to explain to Sidoh the meaning of what Ryuk had meant by "Shinigami chocolate" and explained that humans, unlike shinigamis expelled certain wastes from their bodies. Sidoh of course thought it grossly disturbing but it was the least disgusting way Keegan could have pointed it out.

After a while Sidoh stopped where he was and looked around seeing that they were in fact a bit closer to where other shinigamis were at this time and Sidoh bowed politely to Keegan and explained he was off to lengthen his life span.

"Thank you." He said to her. "For you know, not being mean to me."

"Well…you're welcome. It's the least I can do." Keegan scratched at her head. "You guys have to…live too don't you?" Shinigamis, the more Keegan thought about it, were not that much different than humans. Certainly they all had very…human-like behaviors in personalities. Humans could be just as mean and disrespectful as some shinigamis here…and others were meek, weak, and kind to some extent.

Once Sidoh was gone Keegan stood once again, alone, with Ryuk. "What now?" She asked him.

"You wanna try your luck gambling your life span?" He suggested, curious what her answer could be.

Keegan glanced at him and turned staring at Ryuk for a moment. She pondered for a moment, her answer was important it seemed and she grinned. "How 'bout I show you shinigamis what Yahtzee is?"

"What is that?" Ryuk asked her, surprised.

"It's a game. Pick me out some shinigamis to play with."

"Gukku and Deridovely should be close by…" Ryuk mumbled. "Gukku always loses…" Ryuk gestured for Keegan to stay where she was and walked over to small group, crouching low so that when he got in he could see which shinigami were there. As before, Gukku and Deridovely were gambling as usual.

"I win again!"

"You son of a bitch!"

"Hey guys…" Ryuk butted into the argument and the two shinigamis looked up at him with surprise.

"Hey, hey! Look who it is? We haven't seen you in forever!"

"Ryuk! Last time we saw you was when we were getting Spirit Council violations…How did you get rid of that pest anyways?"

"Pest!" Keegan's angered voice shouted suddenly.

Ryuk grit his teeth, Keegan could never stay away for very long could she?

"…I didn't." Ryuk confessed.

When the other two shinigamis looked up they saw Keegan standing there, her gaze menacing and her eyes filled with fire.

"AH! It's her! She's gonna write us up again for lazing about!" They scrambled backwards away from her before she rolled her eyes.

"Oh shut up…" She groaned. "I'm here off duty. Can't I do that?" Still playing up her part with the shinigamis, she figured they were still dumb enough to believe her act.

"Oh…free time?" Gukku asked, shaking his head.

"Yeah. Off duty. What are you guys doing anyways?" She leaned closer to observe what looked like bones and small skulls in a rounded dish.

"We're gambling. You wanna play?" Deridovely asked her.

"Yeah, as long as you don't breathe on me." She sat down in front of them and gave a small grin. "You guys every played Yahtzee?"

"Yahtzee? Oooh."

"No. What's that?"

"It's a dice game. Got nay dice on you?"

Ryuk watched carefully so that Keegan wouldn't pull anything stupid, not that she would but well…one couldn't help but be concerned right?

"Somewhere…" Gukku rattled his head about and opened his mouth to produce several different kinds of dice.

"How many we need?" Deridovely asked.

"Only…6. You keep your dice in your head?" She asked Gukku.

"Well, yeah. Where else am I gonna keep them without them getting lost?" He asked her.

"Oh. Well I dunno. A pocket or something?"

"I ain't got 'em."

Keegan sighed and shook her head. "Okay. The rules are simple, you have to roll higher than each of the players. If you roll all sixes, it's an automatic Yahtzee and the game is won. Or the player with the highest number amount by the dice roll wins."

"This gonna take long?" Ryuk asked her. "We really…have to get going soon." He tried to hurry Keegan along.

"Just a minute." Keegan said, trying to hold him off for a bit.

"Anybody keep score? Here, pass around a Death Note page so we can all keep score." Gukku suggested.

"Everyone has to keep score?" Deridovely asked

"Yes…" Keegan informed, as if he should know.

So everyone got a piece of Death Note page, Keegan took out a pencil form her purse and dabbed the tip on her tongue out of habit and she wrote down number slots to keep scores on.

The other two shinigamis did the same and Gukku pushed the dice forward.

"Okay. So now what?"

"We roll the dice." Keegan said as she took the dice in hand. "Who wants to go first?"

"Me! Me!" Deridovely said excitedly. "I wanna win first!"

"…you can't automatically win." Gukku grunted.

"Yeah Deridovely that's stupid." Ryuk snickered. "And I don't play."

"Maybe you should." Keegan suggested.

"Nah. I'll just watch. I like to watch."

"Pervert." Keegan stuck her tongue out at him.

"Now that's just mean!" Ryuk growled.

So Deridovely rolled the dice. "Haha. 28. Beat that!" He grinned. "What are we playing for anyways?"

"Nothing. We're just playing for fun." Keegan said. "No gambling involved."

"What? Awwww. What fun is that?" Gukku asked with a whine. "Life spans are always fun to gamble."

"Well…you don't have anything to lose." Keegan informed. "What fun is it if you lose all the time? But if you gamble and lose nothing…then everybody wins."

"…true. Your roll." Deridovely handed the dice to Gukku and he grabbed them before putting them in his mouth and rattling his head about before he coughed them out.

"31. I beat you Deridovely." Gukku laughed, writing down his scores.

He handed the dice to Keegan who wiped them off with her shirt after they had been in Gukku's mouth. "So, where'd you learn this game?"

"Well, when you die you remember all of the stuff you did as a human, so I remember playing Yahtzee." She explained to them taking the dice in hand. Keegan rolled and the dice hit the dust bowl. Gazing inside, Keegan's eyes widened.

The other two shinigami leaned in and immediately grumbled in annoyance. "AW!"

"How the hell did that happen?"

"Yahtzee!" Keegan exclaimed happily. "Wow. I could never win at this game when I was a little kid."

Despite how much fun Keegan seemed to be having Ryuk felt the piece of Death Note given to them by Armonia Justin Beyondormason. "Ow." He grunted. That must have been their signal to go back and see him.

Ryuk reached for the Death Note page that had been given to him and sure enough…it was smoking in his hand. "Hey, we gotta go." He said to Keegan suddenly.

"Go? Go where?" She asked, looking up at Ryuk.

The shinigami indicated his head back in the direction where they had come from."Go. Us. Now."

"Sorry guys. I've got business to attend to now. Emergency paging system." Keegan sighed.

"Awww…come on. One more gaaaame?" Gukku whined.

"No. I can't. The Spirit Council is serious business and when they want business done…well it has to get done."

"Uh. Hey. Our game play isn't going on the…uh..violation thing is it?" Deridovely asked, looking around with concern.

"No. I was off duty. Can't write you up if I was off duty now can I?" She winked. "Okay. Now I have to go."

"Come back and play later!"

"…I'll try." Keegan said as she stood to follow Ryuk again.

"You wanted to see us?" Keegan asked once they had re-entered the cave from before. Armonia Justin Beyondormason was still obsessing over Keegan's fake bracelet she had given to him before he looked up. "Oh, hm. Yes. The trial will begin soon. Your defense shall be a line of shinigamis based upon their…eh…sympathy levels and kill levels."

"So…We get an unfair trial is what you're saying?" Ryuk asked. "What the hell kind fun is that?"

"Ryuk, you actually expect the both of you to be granted leniency? Honestly?" He asked.

"…No." Keegan sighed. "However the Shinigami Realm and its inhabitants must be held accountable also for this. You said our defense MAY work." Keegan recalled.

The bejeweled shinigami muttered something before sighing. "Yes. Yes. I did say that."

"So am I to assume you are representing us? That, or you're either planning on trying to make us look a lot guiltier than actually are." Keegan asked, the bejeweled shinigami, her hands pressed against the rotten wood of the table and Armonia Justin Beyondormason drew back as her eyes narrowed. "Listen you…"

"What are you going to do about it?"

"…I don't believe in a God or anything like that but I'm not opposed to the idea of reincarnation or poltergeist. You screw this up anymore than it needs to be and I'm gonna come back exactly as I said I would before and you're gonna be in A LOT of pain." Keegan assured him.

Ryuk jabbed his thumb in Keegan's direction. "Yeah. What she said."

"Shut up, Ryuk." Keegan said irately and her companion quieted himself.

"Yes Ma'am."

When said before, that there are two types of calms in a storm, before a storm and after a storm. The calm before the storm, as Keegan could describe it was when the trial with Light Yagami was going on, this could be considered the calm…after the storm seeing as how the 'court room' they were in the shinigami realm wasn't really…a court room exactly.

It was exactly as it appeared to be…a giant crater in the middle of a desert. Fan…tastic. Of course, like a rare few others before them, Ryuk and Keegan had to stand in the middle of it. "You call this a court room?" She asked him.

"Well the Shinigami Realm ain't all puppies and roses, Keegan." Ryuk muttered to her as they looked around the giant sized crater.

"Is there a specific reason why…it has to be a crater?" Keegan said, being overly emphatic about using her hands to describe the crater itself.

"I dunno. I've never been to one of these things." Ryuk shrugged, then glanced at her with concern. "I'm worried Keegan."

She turned to him to sigh. "Look…if this goes bad. I still love you no matter what happens, okay?" Keegan told him. "And Remember…it was a good run while it lasted."

It felt like forever until the crater around them kicked up a bunch of dust and Keegan coughed at the amount of sand and dust in the area. When she opened her eyes again she could see a few mangled looking stands and…a few of the shinigamis that they had met before along the way, and that Keegan had been previously acquainted with.

"Hey, Ryuk, you in deep shit or something and you didn't tell us about it?" Gukku shouted from afar and Keegan grimaced.

"Wow. This is a great way to get my cover blown isn't it?"

"Just shut up and ignore them…" He paused, "Whatever happens, happens. Okay?"

Moments later there was one shinigami that brought forth Armonia Justin Beyondormason's chair and he sat down in it close by to Keegan and Ryuk. Apparently he couldn't go anywhere without it. "He'll be here shortly." He told the two of them. 'He' being the Shinigami King or 'Old Man' as Ryuk liked to refer to him as.

"Hey, Shiny! Is the Spirit Council in trouble or something?" Deridovely asked and the bejeweled Shinigami looked at Keegan like she had something to do with this.

"Would you care to explain?"

"It's a long story. I'd rather not."

"This will not go over well you realize."

"Ahaha…" Keegan laughed sarcastically. "Remember what I told you about coming back to possess your sorry ass."

The bejeweled shinigami went silent and another few shinigamis filed into the other mangled set of stands.

Ryuk shifted his eyes back and forth. Sidoh? Sidoh was there? Oh god. This should be a long and sad trial. Ryuk thought.

Sidoh, from afar, had not a clue what was going on. Every so many centuries or eons shinigamis were summoned for these things and were not…'designated'. All shinigamis were up for judgment on issues like such. Sidoh of course had no idea what was going on. He stared at Keegan and Ryuk with fear…and some concern in those beady little bird-eyes of his andKeegan mouthed an apology and shrugged.

The chattering of the many shinigamis stopped and Keegan stood with Ryuk, and she could feel a sense of nausea set in. Her head felt light and she winced at a sharp pain in her head. "Ugh." She groaned.

"You okay?"

Keegan shook her head. "Yeah…"

"I think your body knows…he's here." Ryuk said, as the area went silent and what was once just a grey and often stormy looking sky…became pitch-black.

"He's here? I mean you know, him?" Keegan asked.

"He is." The corner of Ryuk's lip twitched. "I've met him before you know. That's how I managed to get two Death Notes at once."

Keegan turned to glare at him. "Oh, gee. Thanks Ryuk. This would have been viable information A GOOD FRICKIN' WHILE AGO!" She snarled.

He winced. "…Thought the fact I met him before might quell your nerves a bit."

"Damn it Ryuk!"

"State your names of origin…" A booming voice stated.

Keegan was silent. There wasn't anywhere that she could see this…'entity' that called itself 'king'. So…how could she talk to it if it wasn't present…supposedly?

Ryuk answered right away. "Ryuk. You know? The cheat. The Thief. I tricked you outta 2 Death Notes?"

"Your name of origin is of no concern. I want the name of origin of the human…" It said in annoyance.

There were murmurs of surprise and Gukku and Deridovely looked between each other in confusion. "Human?"

Keegan turned to look at them from where she was standing and grinned. "Yeah. I'm that human."

They now felt extremely stupid she imagined. Keegan was addressed again. "I ordered you to answer my question, mortal."

"Keegan Allison Phelps. If you plan to kill me now I'd prefer you do it quickly…I've got some scores to settle in the afterlife when I return…as, something not as pleasant." She cocked a brow smugly

"Is that your name or origin or are you providing false information?"

"It's my name. It's the name I was given when I was born." Keegan said, angered now.

There was an easy silence before they were answered. "Do you know why you and the shinigami Ryuk have been summoned here?"

Ryuk scoffed. "Let me guess, I'm in trouble for stealing Death Notes again?" He asked with a grin.

"We have something that is of great interest to you…" Keegan answered.

"Correct. On the account that an artifact that belongs here…is never to be used."

Keegan tapped her foot. "You know…" She began a bit sardonically. "I'm under the impression this…" she took out the Life Script and a few gasps and growls were elicited in the room.

Ryuk glanced at it and chuckled nervously. "What are you doing?"

"Shut up." Keegan said. "I'll handle this." She held the Life Script up again for all to see. "I mean, what's a…notebook that gives life doing in a place that just…radiates death?" Keegan asked. "I mean, it seems out of place doesn't it?" she asked. "And…I'm asking everyone in the room here. So I do expect some answers."

"You are not at liberty to be questioning such things."

"Oh, I need your answer too." She said. "Just so you don't feel left out."

What was she doing? Keegan was staring Death in the face…in all reality. Why wasn't she afraid? She should have been shaking, quivering, fearing for her life…but she wasn't. Ryuk had to give Keegan much credit for that. She had guts-no-balls. Was that the appropriate term? Light used that phrase sometimes occasionally. How much L had the balls to accuse him of being Kira…

This was Keegan though, not Light. Keegan wasn't jerking around when she spoke to The Shinigami King as she would…any other shinigami.

"I'm waiting." Keegan said in anger.

There was a long pause of silence before a sigh. "The notebook of life, is an abomination that came about many centuries ago. How it came about…is beyond my knowledge-"

There was a sudden guttural snarl from somewhere in the stands and a few shinigamis had to move out of the way of a short, very hunched over, and…massively old shinigami that waddled his way around unsteadily. "That is a load of fuck!"

He was old…with an extremely ragged World War II, 1945, gas mask hanging off his face in a lopsided manner. He drooled…constantly, tracking it wherever he went and approached forward. "You…certainly DO know where it came from, and you left it there…because you knew if you didn't… " There was a pause and the shinigami looked back at Keegan and Ryuk.

"IT would have come back for your soul…from wherever IT roams now, you still have that inkling of fear in you…as do we all if…" A pause and the shinigami hocked several wads of saliva onto the sand.

Keegan observed him. Old, not just in appearance, but in age. He looked like he could break at any moment and he growled every several seconds and wheezed when he moved, breathing harshly, and drooling everywhere. This was not a shinigami she had ever seen before. Nor had Ryuk.

The Shinigami King of course did not take kindly to this interruption. "You do not know the horrors you speak with this blasphemy!"

Ryuk watched with interest as this aged and decrepit shinigami circled him, his torn, and aged death note, was just as old as he was and he dragged it around on a rusted chain. He looked Ryuk over and observed him before laughing. "HA! You have such room to talk, My King. You fail to recall, I was there when the notebook was made…and I was acquainted with who made it."

A hush fell over the assembled 'court' and Armonia Justin Beyondormason scoffed at this withered old shinigami. "Your point being exactly?"

The older shinigami slapped him in the face with his Death Note with a snarl. "Hold your tongue child. I'll deal with you later…" He growled, drool trickling from the corner of his mouth whilst he spoke. He spit a lot too, Ryuk noticed. He must have been old otherwise the Shinigami King wouldn't let him speak.

"I was there. I know what I saw…and I know that this-" He approached Keegan and stopped, looking up at her. From what Keegan could see up close he was observing her…reading her life-span. He was looking for something it felt like. Deeper than a life-span. His rickety hands lifted up, shaking, from a palsy of sorts Keegan imagined, and he grasped one in both hands. "Hmm…" He pondered to himself.

Keegan held the Life Script with one hand as her other was held by this shinigami.

"Hey pal!" Ryuk said, protectively.

"Shh…" The old shinigami murmured, lolling his head from side to side before he let go of Keegan's hand and looked at the Life Script in her possession. "May I?" He asked her. "Touch it, I mean?"

"Don't do it Keegan…" Ryuk warned, not trusting of this old and withered creature.

Keegan looked over at Ryuk and then back to the old shinigami looking up at her. He was shorter than she was it looked, and he seemed to be in as much physical pain as he was mentally if he was this old and crotchety. Keegan reluctantly handed the notebook over to him and he flipped through the black pages before viewing over the rules. He laughed. "Ahaha. Clever one. Clever one." He seemed to be referring to another from the past.

"She always was with this notebook. Not once in all of her years did she ever use it to kill anyone." He read some of the names written within it and he looked at Light's name with interest. "Ohh…ohho yes." He laughed aloud. "Even the sinner cannot escape karma I see."

He turned to hand The Life Script back to her. "It's got part of her in it." He said to her.

"Part of who?" She asked.

"I forbid you to speak that name!"

"I advise…you not speak of her so…loathingly. You remember what she said, she would come back." He said with a sadistic grin. "She would come back my king and you would be in a world of distress…and hell. She said she'd make your existence a living oblivion if she came back. I think this…milestone marks an accurate prediction that her return will be soon."

There was silence still.

"Many, of you young and…impressionable kinsmen and ladies of mine I daresay you may…or may not know the legend of the Shinigami…that had such a love for human life…she once wanted to become as human as they were. Tragically this could not occur…" He passed around and spoke, gazing at everyone with contempt and a bit of bitterness. "And eventually…as the story goes, she made the book of Life." He said, looking back at Keegan holding the Life Script.

"I advise you in your judgments today, strongly, that you make the correct decision and let them go. For I fear what she may do to your souls if she returns."

"Just because this occurrence has happened means nothing, and you are a mad and aged creature…Kalverez."

He had a name now. All right. That was easier to see now. This, Kalverez, shinigami was just as fierce as his 'King' and took no delight in answering him. There was scathe and hate in his voice. "IT MEANS EVERYTHING!" He snarled, spittle flying around and he growled. "It means everything my King and you know it…Ohhh, ho do you ever know it."

He shuffled back over to Keegan and held her arm up holding the Life Script. "This notebook, belonged to one of the most destructive and dangerous shinigamis to our own kind and she vowed revenge when she returned from the afterlife. Who is to say…" He glanced at Keegan, "She could not be reincarnated."

Frantic murmurs and worried cries could be heard. "Nemo. It's Nemo? Nemo is returning?"

"Do you understand?" Kalverez hissed, letting go of Keegan's arm and passing towards Ryuk to tug on the other shinigami's arm. "And THIS is her Hellhound come to tear you to shreds!"

"If you continue these senseless ramblings you will suffer as she did the first time-"

"GO AHEAD!" Kalverez laughed morbidly. "I fear not the snares of death." He coughed. "I am on my last legs and…I would welcome the sentence greatly."

The Shinigami King's booming voice came again. "I should have sent the tattle-tale with her when she drained you of your life-span. Had I known you would be so loyal to her…"

Kalverez breathed heavily and shuffled around. "Are you lot going to continue to let this beast dictate to you how lifestyles can be lived? How DEATH is a mere way of existence?" He sneered. "Of course I do not ask you change that." He paced and shuffled, and slapped Armonia Justin Beyondormason again when he passed by him.

"Stop hitting me!"

"You were the one that would have sold them out eventually anyways…you're a coward, just like I used to be."

Ryuk snickered each time this happened.

"Humans…provide life for us…in more ways than one. Are we ever thankful for the fact that their lives take care of our own when we kill them?" He asked.

Sidoh scratched the top of his head. He never had thought about that before, and if he had it probably hadn't been much. It was humans that gave them all life after all wasn't it? Life to Death's Army. Made sense.

Ryuk too had never pondered about this. He only killed humans every once in a while and that was when something interested him. Since he'd been with Keegan, Ryuk hadn't felt that need. For several reasons, one was because he didn't gamble and two Keegan's 'no-kill' policy had rubbed off on him. He had a different sort of respect for life than he had before…he supposed.

This Kalverez seemingly had more knowledge of the notebook than either Keegan or Ryuk had and he seemed to know EXACTLY where it had come from…and how it came about.

"Do you know of the heresy you are committing?"

Keegan realized The Shinigami King was speaking to her and Ryuk again as Kalverez finished his rant, seemingly silent for the reaction.

Keegan held up the notebook again. "I didn't think it would work at first…originally. To me Ryuk was just a trouble-making spirit that had nothing better to do than harass unsuspecting people…in their homes and households." She mouthed a sorry to Ryuk and he shrugged. She was right. He liked messing with humans in that way sometimes.

"The notebook itself…" she paused, "proved me wrong. Ryuk only told me what he knew about the notebook and what it could do, he himself didn't believe it worked at first either." Keegan stared down at its black pages.

"And how did you come across it, Ryuk?"

Ryuk's expression soured. "Why didn't anyone guard it at the time if it was so fucking dangerous?"

Keegan glanced up at the darkened sky for a moment. "That's what I would like to know."

There was a very restrained silence, almost as if the Shinigami King didn't want to answer that question. Almost afraid to.

"Because he knows he didn't do it. He couldn't do it." Kalverez laughed. "He knows she'll come back if he does. The book'll tell on him." He snickered.

"Do not speak ill truths you lowly wretch!"

"How many times do I have to tell you, my existence is at its end. I have nothing to fear from you. Neither should they. As long as that nagging feeling is in the back of your mind, you'll never lay any judgment down on any human or shinigami…regardless. She'll come back and kill you like she nearly did before…you're afraid. You're afraid. AFRAID!" Kalverez cackled.

"I have had enough-"

"I'VE heard enough…" Keegan sneered suddenly. Eliciting a few questioned murmured from the shinigamis around them. "YEAH! You heard me. I've heard enough. This whole process is out of order. Because there is NOT order in this court. If what he says is true you're afraid of something it doesn't matter what it is. But let me tell you something right here and right now…" Keegan said, scowling. "I've looked death in the face and do you know what? It's pretty ugly, and you know what I don't know what happened." She pointed at the sky in general at the shinigami king. "If I find out it was YOU who had something to do with the death of my parents…ANY of you, my soul will seek revenge if you kill me or him." She glared and the glint in her eyes meant business.

Ryuk knew that confident stare, that death promise. Keegan was dead serious. He believed every word she said. If Keegan's soul was as bitter about death as she knew it to be then it would definitely come back to haunt the shinigami king. Reincarnation...was not entirely impossible. He'd just never seen it before.

"Don't test me…because my spirit might help bring back whatever it is Kalverez is talking about."

The elder shinigami laughed morbidly. "Sounds like the old gal to me." He flicked his tongue out at the air. "Ohh…I know that scent all too well." Drool, more of it.

"She has the initiative," He warned the shinigami king. "I would not underestimate her spirit if you ended her life."

"… Very well but the shinigami-"

"You lay one single death sentence on Ryuk and I'll die right now to drag you to wherever I go with me so I can torture you for your crimes against both shinigamis and humanity." Her tone fierce, her voice venomous, her eyes piercing flames of green as she gazed up at the sky. "Don't you touch him…"

"State more for your reasoning…" He didn't bring up the sentencing issue again for Ryuk it seemed.

"He's all I have." Keegan turned to look at the shinigami with a sad smile. "You take him away from me and I'll be sure to make you pay. You'll be sorry. I'll come back, maybe as whomever Kalverez is talking about…or maybe I'll come back as an angel to judge you for what you did to him. I dunno. I'm thinking about becoming a Buddhist after everything I've gone through with this notebook." Keegan said as she held up the Life Script again.

"What are you saying, exactly human?"

Keegan turned to Ryuk, who nodded to her and she turned back to the sky. "Simple. Don't. Fuck. With me."

That being said Kalverez wheezed in laughter. "Sounds like her, in a more modern sense." He took spoke to the sky. "I'd follow her advice. Humans, though weak in life, are strong willed in souls and hearts. I suggest that you follow what she has warned you with…and let them go."

"What exchange can be made in the events that have taken place?" The Shinigami King asked her.

"What do you want?" Ryuk asked with a growl.

There was a pause and then he answered. "The Book of Life has fallen into human hands of only one kind. I highly advise it not falling into more human hands. You…" He indicated to Keegan, "Must be the Keeper of the Script for the duration of your existence, even after you die though…I expect something to be done about the notebook, so it does not fall into your kind's hands-"

"Don't be racist, my mother wouldn't approve." Keegan said coldly. "And if she were a vengeful spirit I think she'd be proud of me for back talking 'The Devil' as she would say."

Ryuk grinned at her. "Wow, nice reference to your mom. Worried about that much?"

"Ryuk, shut up." Keegan snapped at him suddenly.

The shinigami king gave a great sigh before speaking again. "Then we are in agreement?"

"As long as you leave Ryuk alone…I think I can let this travesty slide."

"And as long as you keep your end of the bargain I won't feel the need to see if I can awaken the she-devil." Kalverez limped around before he picked up his raggedy Death Note and began shuffling off.

"These actions have been absolved…however, I do hope you realize what you are dealing with…"

As Keegan turned to link arms with Ryuk she scoffed.

"I think I can handle it." And they walked.

As Keegan stepped forward Sidoh suddenly swooped in front of her. "Wow! That was so scary, I thought for sure you were goners!"

Ryuk snarled at him, grabbing the poor bird-like shinigami and rattling him about. "Don't remind me, I'm already boggled enough. Do you WANT me to steal your Death Note, again. Slimy, sniveling little coward!"

Wow. That must have rattled Ryuk inside, otherwise he wouldn't have taken his frustrations out on Sidoh.

"Waaaaaaaaaaaah!" Poor Sidoh.

"Ryuk." He wasn't listening. "Ryuk." Still wasn't listening. "RYUK! LET HIM GO! JEEZ!"

He stopped and dropped Sidoh, he was breathing heavily and his eyes were glowing red, angrily. She took him by the arm and shook her head at him before leaning down to help Sidoh to his stance. "Sidoh, I think you'd better go…we'll…uh…hang out later, okay?" She said.

A bit traumatized by Ryuk's behavior, poor Sidoh fled and Keegan walked with Ryuk for a while. He still seemed generally shaken by everything. Perhaps from the inside until finally it had exploded out of him. They came to a place eventually where it looked like a dried grotto and all ahead all you could see nothing but desert and a bone-yard wasteland with slick oil puddles. Keegan held onto him as she stared ahead.

"You want to talk about it?" She asked him, as he had done many times before back home with her.

He turned suddenly and held her tightly. It was awkward because Ryuk was much taller but Keegan could feel it. He was…afraid. She'd never sensed that before in him. He never worried about her life being totally endangered but…this tme had been different. The fear had affected him and he was still scared. He'd been shaken, fearing the worst could have happened to her and in return she the same for him. He was cold as sin, but Keegan knew he was burning with anger on the inside.

"I could have lost you for all that shit you pulled back there." He was gnashing his teeth and Keegan felt crushed by the hug.

"…I'm sorry Ryuk. I wasn't worried about myself."

"You never worry." He said, angry.

"…I guess some things I worry about more than myself." Keegan admitted, shrugging in his arms. "I dunno."

"Your life is mine you know." Ryuk said, part of it felt like a warning and part of it was wise advice. "It's connected, because the notebook says it is. You die, I die. So even if you tried to protect me…I'd have ended up dying anyways."

What was the point in her dying for him anyways? It didn't make sense unless-

"…Were you bluffing the whole time?" Ryuk asked her, his tone flat and annoyed.

Keegan grinned. "He fell for it though didn't he? Good thing he didn't know about the last rule huh?" She pulled away from him waving the notebook.

"You know Keegan, you scare me sometimes. I often don't tell you that." He stood beside her again, his hands lingering hanging over her shoulders in a half hug.

"I dunno." She said. "Does this mean I'm stuck here in the Shinigami Realm with you, with thise notebook? Asshole up there wasn't real specific you know." Keegan said looking down at the notebook.

"Of course he wasn't specific!" Came Kalverez's laugh from behind them.

"Eh?" Ryuk turned to look back at the elder shinigami waving at them. "You…you're that cocky old bugger from the trial."

As Kalverez dragged himself closer he smacked Ryuk with his Death Note with a growl. "Don't call me old, I'm a legend." He laughed to himself. "Judging by your adventures you might as well be too."

Keegan watched this shinigami with curiosity and stepped closer. "Hey…why did you help us at the trial? I mean, from the looks of it you could have been lying about knowing about the notebook-"

"Lying? Ha! If I were lying the bastard wouldn't have let you off." Kalverez informed her. "That's what I've always hated about you humans, you and your inability to trust people." He scoffed. "No respect."

Ryuk gnashed his teeth in annoyance. "Don't you talk to her like that."

Kalverez waved his Death Note at Ryuk again before scowling. Drool went everywhere. "Yuck." Ryuk stepped back and Keegan actually felt sorry for the poor guy. He seemed unable to control it.

"That still doesn't answer the question as to why." Keegan restated. "Mind giving me some heads up?"

Kalverez looked up at her with interest. "You're not her…" A pause. "I thought…she might have finally gotten her wish."

"Her wish?" Keegan asked. "Who is she? You keep talking about someone that made the notebook…another shinigami, what happened to her?"

Kalverez grinned. "Heh. Let's just say, she sleeps…in a very deep sleep." He said before beginning to limp off. "I'm too old for this world, on my last legs." He looked over at Keegan again before he came back over. "I'd like to see it one more time before I fade away." He said.

Keegan handed him the notebook and Kalverez laughed softly at it. "Hello you old bitch." He said to The Life Script. "Hehe. Caused a lot of trouble down there. Well, as long as you're around I'll know I can rest in peace knowing you'll come back…some day. I don't know when, but when you did I expect you to either help end the world or save it." He handed the notebook back to Keegan before his knees began to shake and he growled in pain.

It felt awful…and it looked awful as Keegan watched the sight along with Ryuk. "What's happening to him?" Keegan asked.

Kalverex obviously couldn't answer, but his drool came in waves now and he groaned in pain as Ryuk gripped her shoulders and pulled her further back from the scene. "He's dying…" Surely. There was no 'mortal' way to kill a shinigami, unless it was with love. However, shinigamis also died naturally, hence why they needed to replenish their life spans by taking human lives.

That was right, shinigamis died different than humans did. To see it first hand was a little more than Ryuk thought Keegan could handle, but it wasn't as bad as Keegan thought it could be. However…

Kalverez felt his body lock up and his eyes go blank before the light left the color of his golden eyes and she watched bit by bit as Kalverez disintegrated…into dust.

That was how they died. They just…disappeared. "Eh!" Keegan said as the ashes began to blow away and she scrambled hurriedly to shield them from the winds blowing at them. "…he shouldn't have to fade away like that…and not be remembered." Keegan said, clearly upset.

She tried to pile the ashes up repeatedly and scoop them into the small purse she had brought with her before Ryuk gently placed his bony hand over hers. "Not all of it Keegan…" He said. "You can't carry a purse filled with ashes around with you. What do you think you're gonna do with it anyways?"

She felt her lower lip quiver. "He deserves some peace doesn't he?"

"He got it. He saw The Life Script before he died." Ryuk tried to reason with her.

"That's not what I meant!" Keegan exclaimed angrily, she could feel hot tears on her face as she struggled to hold them back. "He doesn't deserve to die here…" She said, her voice breaking. "He should…he should be properly buried, not forgotten about."

"…Is that what you'd have done for me Keegan? Buried me? Not forgotten about me if I died?"

Keegan glanced at him. "Of course I would!" She said, angry. "I'd never forget you…you're too important to me…you're all I have I-"

He was crouched beside her as she said through tears. "I don't want to ever forget you." She said to him. "That's what happens here. Shinigamis forget…they move on, and they don't care what happens…" She said looking at the ashes she had currently in her hands. "He didn't deserve that…and neither do you I just-"

He put his hand on her head. "Hey…"

She was sobbing then. Keegan didn't cry often but when she did it showed a more vulnerable side that Ryuk didn't like to see. Human sorrow was never a big fascination but…with Keegan, beingt he kind of human she was, it intrigued him.

"Don't cry." He assured her. "We did it." He said. "We won. It's all over, you don't haveto be upset anymore." Those large yellow eyes stared at her, not currently sure how to express the feeling inside him at that moment but what else could he do.

He pat her head and he made her stand up. "Come on. I'll take you home…We're close enough to get you down there now." Keegan sniffled with one of his gangly arms around her as they walked still.

"So…were you really serious about coming back, ya know? As an angel and wreaking hell on all shinigamis?" Ryuk looked down at her. Her hair was a bit of a mess. From traveling to the shinigami realm and the human world Keegan always seemed to be more of a mess when she ended up here. Her hair was especially frizzy today; she looked paler than what was normal for a fair-skinned Irish-American girl.

"Let me be absolutely clear here Ryuk," Keegan turned towards him, stopping for what must have been the billionth time. "I'm the type to hold a grudge."

He gave her his crooked little shinigami grin. "Yeah. I know. Better than anyone I think."

She rolled her eyes, shaking her head as they continued to walking along.

"Can I ask you something?" Keegan held her purse up to show the bag of ashes. "Are you…okay, I mean with me putting him to rest on Earth?"

Ryuk shook his head. "It's not really my business what you do with his remains Keegan, if I were him I'd be pretty damn grateful somebody had enough decency to care where I was buried."

"Did you learn your lessons about life and death pretty well then, huh?" Keegan smirked.

"Life, death, and love. Sounds like a fun novel you could write." Ryuk snickered.

"Nah…it'll come out as some cheesy novel and someone will lump it in with all that awful vampire stuff nowadays." Keegan sighed.

He stopped then as Keegan kept walking ahead before he watched her again."Hey…can I ask YOU something?" Ryuk asked her.

"Yeah?" Keegan turned to face him and he approached. "You only kiss me in my human form, you tryin' tell me I'm ugly or something?"

Keegan laughed. "No! What? No…" She was laughing at the very idea of it.

Ryuk gave a light cackle. "Then why don't you kiss me now?"

"…You mean where other shinigamis could see?" Keegan asked him, looking around warily. "…Why?"

"Because…well you know." He tried to find the words. What were the words that humans used to express that sort of affection for each other? Keegan used it frequently to him all the time.

"Know what?"

"…that I love you." Ryuk said, mumbling a bit. She reached up to ruffle his hair slightly, but it was a bit harder and Ryuk had to comply with this by leaning down. Keegan was much shorter than he and Light. If Ryuk wa stall in his human form he was a lot taller as a shinigami. He chuckled. "So, I still get that kiss right? Oh wait. That's right. I'm pretty fucking hideou-"

He shut up when she yanked him towards her and suddenly…"I never wanna hear that again." She growled before kissing him deeply and his golden eyes bulged a bit more than usual as she did so before pulling away and they walked on.

He was left…speechless had she really-Oh yes she had! He watched as she turned to walk ahead of him.

"Come on asshole! Take me home already!" Keegan called out to him, turning with a smile.

With a wicked grin, Ryuk was next to her. "All right…but there's only one way back DOWN you know."

"Please don't say it…"

"Yup. If you don't fly Human Airways you gotta fly Shinigami Ways."

"Ohh…I don't wanna puke agaaaaain."

"Too bad, shit happens." Ryuk suddenly picked Keegan up when she wasn't expecting it and threw her over his shoulder.

"HEY! HEY! PUT ME DOWN!"

"Ryuk 1, you are clear for take-off." He snickered before his wings burst from his back and he disappeared from sight suddenly with Keegan.

They were gone…and all that could be heard though was Keegan yelling.

"RYUUUUUUKKKK!"

"Whaaaaat?"

"STOP THAT!"

"Heh heh. 'Kay."

Authoress Note: Well there you guys have it folks, the official end of the Life Script.

:3 Thanks to all you wonderful supporters of the story and to the reviewers. Remember, where there is a Kira there will always be a Kuro to combat against them. Thank youf or your continued support and sticking through 'til the very end.

Much Love,

Hatter.