Title: Manor of Sleeping Tattoos
Pairings: L/Light ; Light-centric
Part: Fourth Hour: Reenactment
Words: 2650 words
Beta: elliott ashes
Warning[s]: Major character death
Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note or Fatal Frame; Death Note is the property of Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata while Fatal Frame is the property of Tecmo (and others, I think).
Summary: The dream is always the same. He follows him deeper and deeper into the manor, even though he knows that it's going to trap him in this nightmare forever.
Fourth Hour: Reenactment
This time when he wakes in the dream, he's able to sit up and look around. As always he finds himself dressed in blue and white, what he now knows is the traditional garb of the priestess – the Tattooed Priestess – of the shrine.
It's the first time that he's been able to control himself in these dreams; before this he could only lie in his prison and glance around. The body he had occupied was not his own, it had been a female one now that he thinks about it.
But now... this body is his. He doesn't know what any of this means.
It feels as though something is being shown to him, something important. At this moment he might not know what this means, but perhaps it will make more sense down the road. Possibly it's a clue for what needs to be done to end this.
He hopes that's true. He wants to see him again.
– – –
The cage that he finds himself in is made of wood and is suspended above an altar of some sort. From what he can see, the cage can be raised or lowered which means that there has to be some sort of mechanism to do so.
Beneath him in the altar room, there's a young girl – he can't make out any details of her appearance or distinguish her age – dressed in white and red. She's writing something down into a diary of some sort; it's blue and it looks familiar. Light wonders if she's one of the handmaidens that he has read about.
She's singing softly and Light finds the song relaxing at it leaves her lips. He leans against the back of the cage and lets his eyes close.
"Sleep, priestess, lie in peace... sleep, priestess, lie in peace... if the priestess wakes from her dream... perform the rite of stakes, her limbs pinned tight... lest the doors open wide and suffering unleashed on all..."
– – –
Sometimes there's more than one girl in the altar below his prison. They speak in hushed whispers and exchange a few items. One of them brings food most of the time.
Light watches them, wondering if he should say something. He never feels hungry, but this is a dream so that is understandable. Still, for whatever reason, when he is offered food, he eats it in silence and says nothing. He does try to return the small smile that the girl gives him when she brings him his meals.
Her face is soft and there's something kind about her. She says that her name is Amane.
It sounds familiar – wasn't that one of the handmaidens' names?
– – –
Amane makes an effort to speak with him. Light doesn't know what to say, but she seems to know him in some way. He can't be sure what it means.
In return, he feels a sense of familiarity with her, as though he knows her somehow. But that can't be because she's dead and he's still alive – but the line between this dream world and the real world is becoming thinner and thinner he's finding – but something stirs inside of him.
Light isn't sure what it means; he finds it confusing, but that dull ache in his chest is soothed somewhat when he speaks with her.
She reminds him of Sayu, with her soft-spoken naïveté and innocence. Occasionally she tells him stories of the area, of different stories that her mother told her as she grew up.
"Shigure and the others were adopted into the family," she tells him one night. "They will serve their duty to the family and the shrine before they are released back into the nearby villages."
He wants to ask about them, but he can't think of what to say. Nothing seems appropriate.
Amane continues to speak to him softly, "Minamo is looking forward to the ritual the most, she practices every day... Hisame has been busy too and I think that she is worried about Minamo..."
Locking away the names for later analysis, Light listens as Amane quietly talks about the different handmaidens and their personalities. Minamo is the one who always has this look of almost murderous glee on her face as she brings in the food – he isn't sure what the ritual means yet, but his stomach jerks painfully inside of him.
Hisame and Shigure come by less frequently, but Shigure slowly begins to take over Minamo's duties. He thinks that the girl appreciates that, it gives her more time to 'practice.'
He's nervous about what the ritual entails.
– – –
The one time that Amane isn't there, is when Shigure stays with him in her place. She says nothing and simply sits there quietly as he watches her. He feels as though maybe he should say something, but he doesn't know what to say to her.
He's supposed to be carving his sorrow into the mirror which is in his prison with him, but he doesn't know how.
So instead, he settles back against the wall of his prison and waits. Eventually the ritual will take place, and he hopes that the answers he seeks will be found then.
Why am I having this dream?
Light can't help but feel a sense of fear growing inside of him and his heart beats heavily in his chest. He feels tired and sluggish.
He wishes that this would end soon. Or that he would wake up.
– – –
Rarely does he get visitors who aren't the four handmaidens. Their duties are to look after his needs and make sure that he is comfortable.
On this night – dream? He can't remember the last time he woke up – though, he gets a visitor.
She is tall and Amane bows to her, referring to her as the head of the family. Light is a little surprised by her appearance; he would have thought that the head of the family would have been male instead of female. He takes it in stride, though, and doesn't let his surprise show.
"You should prepare yourself, Reika. You will receive your tattoos soon."
Light says nothing about the unfamiliar name, simply bows his head to her in acknowledgement. She gives him a hard look for a moment before turning away and instructing Amane to watch him closely and to make sure he completes his 'purification' properly.
It doesn't sound reassuring and Light turns his attention back to the mirror. He is supposed to carve his pain into it, but what does that mean?
He is afraid to find out.
– – –
Several nights later and Light has begun to lose track of time. He has no idea how many hours or days have passed him by since he was locked into this dream. All he is certain of is that he is slowly reliving someone's – Reika's – life. It explains the unfamiliar name that he is addressed by, the way he is dressed.
Was this Reika the priestess? Was she the one who marked him with that tattoo? Is she the one who wanders the manor's halls?
Even if he can't be one hundred percent positive, he thinks that he's on the right track with that. But it doesn't explain why he's here, stuck in this strange memory where only Amane recognizes him. Maybe there's something to learn here.
When he sleeps, though, he dreams of Ryuuzaki – L, he isn't sure what name to use any longer – and it's strange. He seems so alive in those dreams, calling for him and reaching out to him. It's a strange reversal of how he remembers things in the waking world.
Sometimes he speaks to Light, but it sounds as though he's speaking through a tube or a tunnel because his voice sounds echoey and distant. Whenever he reaches for him, he wakes up and their fingers miss each other by a few millimetres.
It feels as though his heart is breaking all over again.
– – –
After a while, he gets curious enough to touch the mirror.
For a few seconds, nothing happens, but then in a split second a marking similar to the tattoo which had spread across his body appears on it. As it appears, the pain in his chest lessens.
That yearning to see the other, though, remains.
– – –
Several nights later, Amane takes her seat nearby. There's a slight smile playing about her lips as she does, as though she knows something that he doesn't.
It takes him a few moments before he gathers his courage to ask, "Did something happen?"
Amane shakes her head, "Nothing has changed really. Except for you."
"You knew I wasn't Reika all this time," Light replies, moving forward in his cell so that he can get a better look at her. He leans his head against the front of the wooden cage. "How come no one else has noticed?"
Amane shrugs, "I don't know why no one else has noticed. Maybe it's because you have a part of her inside of you."
"What?"
"A part of Reika is inside of you – that part of her which feels her longing and heartache. This, all of this, you see because the two of you are similar," Amane explains in a soft voice. "She wanted you to see this, so that you would understand... and maybe to help you."
"Help me?"
It surprises him just a little that Amane can sound so mature given that she sounded somewhat childish before. But then he remembers that she has been dead since at least the nineteenth century, so technically she is older than him.
Amane nods, "There is someone you want to see again. Just like her."
"Her?" Light asks with a frown. He wants confirmation, just to be positive and Amane seems willing to give him the answers he's seeking.
"The priestess." Amane crossed her legs and leaned against the wall of the shrine. "She wanted to see him again, one last time... she always seemed so sad. You have that same sadness about you. Your pain and hers... it's the same."
Light isn't sure what to say to that, so he stares at his hands, noting how pale they look. He can't remember the last time he actually saw the sun. His pale skin looks a little odd with the white of his clothes and it looks sickly when held against the blue; it's a little unnerving the way that he can see the veins in his hands.
"What does that mean for me?" There's a lump in his throat that he can't quite swallow past and there's a knot of anxiety settling low in his stomach. From what he knows, this cannot bode well.
Just a little below him, Amane looks a little nervous too. But she seems calm and relaxed too which confuses him even further.
"The priestess is hurting... she hurts because she lost her love like you did. In a way, she is sharing her pain with you." Amane has settled in on the floor, leaning back against it and twining her fingers together as she speaks. "When the ritual commences, you will understand the pain and loss of the priestess. The answers you seek will be found then."
"Ritual?"
"You have carved your loss into the mirror, the Engravers have been summoned," Amane replies. "It will begin soon."
– – –
"Will you tell me?" she asks the next night.
"Tell you what?" Light has been examining the mirror, each time he touches it he finds that the ache in his chest decreases but his yearning to see L again only grows stronger.
"About him."
Light frowns, "Won't the others overhear?"
She shakes her head, "I tried speaking to them of you and not Reika. They acted as though I said nothing. This is a memory – only you and I are aware of what it actually is, I think."
That would make sense, Light thinks. The few times which he has spoken to Shigure or Hisame about the upcoming ritual they acted as though he was female and that he knew exactly what the ritual entailed. His questions about it had been ignored.
But Light doesn't know where to start.
"I really... don't know where to start..."
Amane tilts her head to the side a little, "Try the beginning. If you tell me of your love, then I'll tell you a secret. Does that seem fair?"
"I... I didn't really like him when we first met." The words feel heavy and threaten to stick in his mouth, his throat feels dry and his heart aches just a little. It hurts less now though. "He was so strange – with all sorts of bizarre habits..."
And I fell in love with each one of them.
– – –
He and Amane form a ritual of sorts; he speaks of L, always as Ryuuzaki, most nights. Light finds that the pain is slowly dulling and it's easier to speak of him. Since it doesn't matter what he tells her or not, Light spills out much of his heart to her.
All Amane gives him is encouragement. She shows nothing but interest in his stories about him, about the investigation, or the world that he comes from. Each time he speaks, she listens closely with a soft smile on her face.
He can't be sure, but he feels that the affection must be clear in his voice.
In exchange, she tells him a couple of stories about the brother she met once and the sister she felt she had in Reika. Amane's words bring to life a sweet but sad tale of doomed love.
Amane loved – still loves – her brother, listened to her mother's stories about him and their father with rapt attention; committing all of it to memory. In life, she only knew him for a short time, but long enough to know that she would do anything in her power to help him.
Even break the code and help him to see the priestess.
– – –
Taking comfort in Amane's visits, Light almost forgets that there is more to this ritual than just the mirror which remains with him. As the nights tick slowly past, the markings on it grow thicker until they cover it entirely.
By then he realizes that the next phase begins.
The head of the family comes to see him once more, she says that the worshippers have been gathering at the shrine for a number of days now and that it is time for the next part of the ritual to begin.
"The ink has been gathered and the Engravers await you, Reika; it is time for you to receive the snake and holly and fulfill your duty."
Light can only nod his head in resignation; whatever happens next has already been decided and he can only go along with it. It doesn't matter if he wants to do it or not. Reika experienced this and now so will he.
Throughout the halls of the manor, he can hear the song echoing; it's a familiar sound to him now and he takes comfort in it. Whatever happens next, he will have to face and he can only pray that he will be strong enough to endure.
"Go to the other side... Go to the other side... Cast the boat, take a ride... Cross the rift to the other side... Further and further to the other side... It must sail bearing your tattoos and our offering of tears..."