"Ryuk!" Misa shrieked excitedly.

"Ryuk," said L plainly and much less excitedly.

Ryuk grinned that genuine Ryuk smile, looking at L.

"Long time, no see, spider man," he said, munching a golden apple.

"Won't Eris be angr—" began L, but Misa, rather overjoyed to see him-- he had been her shinigami for a time, you know-- immediately ran up and gave him a hug. Ryuk flinched at this, but said nothing. He glanced at L expectedly, but L refused to give the poor shinigami a hug.

"Tartarus?" asked L. "This is the shinigami realm?" he said, gazing into the deep, black abyss. He seemed to be full of questions today. (Or tonight, as time works differently in Hades.)

"Not quite," replied Ryuk. He looked around at the vast, cold expanse of Hades and sighed a content sigh. "Hades is the shinigami realm. Of course, you humans never woulda' thought, but that's how shinigami work. We tend to move around every millennium or so, though."

"So you're saying," began L,

"--That the Shinigami realm isn't exactly one place?" finished Misa. She may have seemed dumb in life, but in the Underworld...

"That's not what I was going to say," mumbled the defeated L.

Misa snickered, and finally brought to the conversation the question that had been on the two previous mortals' minds.

"Where's Light?"

Ryuk shuddered and remained silent for a pressingly uncomfortable amount of time.
Misa began to get fidgety and L was beginning to think Ryuk had fallen asleep.

"He's talking with Hades," said the shinigami finally.

"Where are they?" asked Misa, almost in tears, but restraining herself from crying. It wasn't at all acceptable to break down crying in from of Tartarus, you know, and-- well, maybe it was. Depends on what you'd done in life.

"Hades' palace, of course."

"I have a question also, Ryuk; it's been pressing my mind for quite a while," said L.

"Go on, Ryuuzaki," he replied, using L's old nickname.

"If a tree falls in the Grove of Persephone, and no-one is around to hear, does it make a sound?"

"Scientifically, yes. I'm surprised someone equal with Kira would ask such a question, really!" said Ryuk, mocking a snooty movie star whose name you'd all forget, even if I told you twice.

Okay, my wonderfully, pwnfully, incredibly awesomely loyal fans, I gave you two chapters before I have to study for finals. This one was kinda' weak, in my opinion. :(