Angels and Demons

"This is it…" Light whispered, staring at the door. It had to be the last one. There was only one thing left that was missing from L's memory, and that was the night that Light had betrayed him. Whatever waited behind this door, it was the last thing that he would have to face. After that… He only had to face L.

L was standing at his side, frowning at the door. "I wish that I could help you, Light-kun." he said softly. "I don't know what is waiting past there, but it cannot be anything good."

Light glanced at him. "I know, L. But I have to do this. I'll get the rest of your memory back, and we'll go home." He hugged the detective tightly, knowing it might be his last chance. L might hate him when he returned. He felt slim arms wrap around him in return, and it was enough. All of this had been worth it, to put L back the way he was supposed to be. "I'll be okay. I promise."

L stepped away, nodding. "I'll be waiting."

Light took a deep breath, turning back to the door and opening it. Without fear, he stepped through, ready to handle whatever the Labyrinth of Souls could throw at him.

xXx

It was nothing but dark.

Light could see himself just fine, but everything around him was an infinite black that seemed to suck up all illumination, leaving nothing. He took a step, finding that the "ground" was at least solid, and looked around. Was this what Mu, Nothingness, felt like?

Something like a spotlight illuminated, and a figure came into view. A young man, maybe Light's age or a few years older, with thick black hair, was kneeling on the ground. Light saw that his arms were pulled painfully up behind him, linked to chains that disappeared somewhere overhead. His eyes were shut, lines indicating pain etched around them.

"Teil Miura." The voice was quiet, coming from all around, and Light couldn't figure out where it was coming from. But he did see a second illuminated figure, this one a girl, with long dark hair. Her eyes were open, dark, expressive and brown and staring right at Light. She was bound hand and foot with rough ropes, lying on her side.

"Emi Tachikawa." the voice supplied helpfully. A third figure appeared, another girl, brunette hair falling in waves down her back. Her hands were cuffed, suspending her standing on her tiptoes. Her eyes, like Teil's, were shut.

"Mizuki Kobayashi."

The fourth figure was a child, no more than twelve or thirteen, with smooth, straight hair and large eyes. He was chained, hands and feet shackled, and was sitting miserably in the midst of the blackness. The voice intoned, "Taro Kagami."

The fifth figure, the last, was a black-haired girl. It blended with the blackness around them, almost invisible. She appeared to be sleeping, though there was a collar around her neck, attached by a chain to somewhere above. "Himeko Inoue." the voice concluded.

Light was left staring at these prisoners, these bound people, wondering what this had to do with his challenge. Was he supposed to help them, free them? He was debating going to Himeko, the nearest, and trying to free her, when another person caught his eye. This person walked free, sauntering towards Light, oozing confidence with every step. Light's breath caught as he realized that the challenge was throwing him yet another illusion of L. But he knew better this time. It wasn't real.

This L was wearing a black turtleneck instead of his usual baggy white shirt. He stepped close to Light, kissing him chastely on the mouth before whispering poisonously, "Kira."

Light flinched, stepping back, and the L laughed. "What? You do not want to hear the name of the god you nearly became? Coward. I'm sure you've made some sort of vow. You'll never kill again? Am I right?" Light didn't reply, and L continued, "It's too bad if you did. This challenge is special." He swept an arm around, indicating the bound prisoners. "Each of these people is a murderer." he declared. "They killed someone, each of them did. You, Light, Kira… have to kill one. One of these five murderers. Not choosing is not an option; or you will stay here for eternity. One of these people must die by your hand to end the challenge. This is the last one the Labyrinth will give you, you know. All that will be left are the challenges you yourself created."

Light gaped at him in horror. He had to kill someone to escape? What kind of horrible challenge was this? He took a step back, noticing that this L had no whites in his eyes. They were a solid, empty, shiny black.

L saw the look, and smiled. "Don't worry, I'll tell you what they did, so you can judge better." He indicated the five prisoners. "Taro Kagami killed his best friend. His father was a police officer, and there was a gun in the house. Taro didn't know it was loaded. He was showing it to his friend when it went off. It was a fatal wound. He killed his friend." L moved away from Light, walking past Taro and to the next spotlight in the circle. "Teil Miura was driving drunk, and hit another car on the highway underpass in Shibuya. The driver of the other car spun out of control and crashed into the concrete wall, where the car burst into flames. The other driver died before help could come.

"Mizuki Kobayashi did not kill anyone directly. Her father had a connection to the Yakuza, and she got several bullies and other terrible people at her college killed in 'terrible accidents'. She was never implicated in these murders, though she was the source." L continued, speaking impassively, as if these people's crimes meant nothing to him. "Emi Tachikawa shot her abusive boyfriend one night after he attempted to beat her. She retrieved the gun from the dresser and fired three times. He died before police arrived. Finally, Himeko Inoue got into a fight with her college roommate. They were on the third floor of the college library, and Himeko shoved her roommate hard. The other girl fell over the balcony railing where you could look down onto the first floor. She broke her neck and died on impact." L grinned wickedly, his eyes glinting a horrific, empty black. "So, Light Yagami… Who do you choose? Which of these murderers deserves to die?"

Light stared around the circle, his thoughts spiraling. What could he do? He didn't want to kill anyone else. He didn't want to be Kira, the thing that L hated, anymore. But he wasn't going to be able to escape this challenge if he didn't. He looked at each bound person in turn, wondering how you decided, out of a group of people condemned for the same crime, which one deserved death. He sank down to sit cross-legged, thinking about what L had said about each of them. There had to be a difference, something that set one apart from the others. If he could find that…

xXx

He sat for a long time, lost in his thoughts and reasoning. L waited off to the side, just watching him, seemingly unworried by the wait. It was, quite possibly, the hardest decision he had ever had to make. He could kill just any of them, to save himself and L. But that would make him no better than the demon that he sought to escape. Kira killed criminals indiscriminately, and that was not what Light wanted to be anymore. He wanted to make a decision for a good reason, not just because he had to save himself.

Light finally climbed to his feet, saying only, "I decided."

L grinned. He walked over, pulling from nowhere a familiar black notebook. He opened it to a clean page and pulled out a pen to offer to Light. "Then write your choice."

Light took the pen, setting it hesitantly to the paper before beginning to write. It was the work of a moment, and when he was finished, the page read, "Mizuki Kobayashi."

The spotlights went out, leaving him blind to his surroundings again, and he didn't even know if it had truly been a Death Note he had written on. All that was left, after, was L, watching him with those eerie eyes. The illusory detective opened his mouth and asked, to Light's great surprise, "Why did you choose Mizuki?"

Light hesitated. "…Why do you want to know?"

"Curiosity." the L copy replied. "I'm interested to know whether you won or not."

"What do you mean?!" Light demanded. "You said that I just had to kill someone, and this was over! You didn't say I had to choose right!"

"There isn't a right or wrong answer." the demon-L laughed. "It just changes how you end up. It is an ending, either way."

Light growled. "I picked Mizuki because she's the only one to have someone killed on purpose. All the others were accidents or self-defense. No matter if she was killing bullies or not, that doesn't make it right. It just shows that she has the willpower to choose to take a human life. Someone like that… is worse than the others."

L raised both eyebrows. Light wondered what had surprised the other so, and realized that it must have been the reason he'd been given. L smiled faintly, though it still looked faintly creepy because of his soulless eyes. "… You chose well, Light. Please, go." He stepped aside, and Light saw a single door suspended in the blackness. He blinked at L, who gestured to the door, before stepping forward and opening it. The grey room waited beyond, and Light breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn't sure what would have happened if he had picked anyone else, and decided that he didn't really want to know. He stepped through the door, and it swung closed behind him. The Trial was over.

He had won.

He looked up then, his eyes moving immediately to focus on the detective standing beside the end of the bed. L was staring at the floor, his hair shadowing his eyes, and Light's good mood immediately fell. L had remembered, he had remembered everything. Light had tried to kill him, and it was all over now. There were no more games, no more charades and no more lies. This was the moment of truth.

"L…" he whispered, taking a step forward. L didn't look up, and Light continued to advance. "L, please, you have to let me explain."

L looked up to meet his eyes, then, and they were so filled with betrayal and hurt that Light was frozen in his tracks. L didn't say anything. He simply turned on his heel, storming to the other door and throwing it open, vanishing through. Light lunged forward with a cry, calling desperately, "L!" He didn't even think before going after him, knowing that it didn't matter. He had come so far… Even if L hated him, he was going to take the detective home. If nothing else, he owed him that. And he loved L Lawliet. He wasn't going to leave him behind now.

I do not own the peop- oh, wait. Ya, I do. XD Suffice to say that the five murderers here are different from their previous incarnations, for the sake of story coherence. :P

Well... not much that I can say here. The Labyrinth has no more challenges for Light. The only one left, he created himself. Hope you guys enjoyed!

Li