Title: Manor of Sleeping Tattoos
Pairings: L/Light ; Light-centric
Part: Sixth Hour: Nightmare
Words: 1713 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.
Sixth Hour: Nightmare
He feels a great amount of pain, as though his heart has been lit on fire.
In his dream, he's in a village. There's a young girl at his side, probably no older than five or six at most, and they are walking down the street. She smiles at him, calls him a name he doesn't recognize – is he her brother? Her sister? Light doesn't know. This isn't his dream.
There's a loud cry. He turns his head.
He hears a scream, a cry, there's blood.
The little girl isn't moving anymore.
– – –
The pain from the last memory hasn't faded, but Light finds himself in another memory. This one is different.
In his dream, there is a young man lying in the bed near him. His eyes are glassy and unseeing, staring at the ceiling over his head.
Someone is speaking to him; they speak of an illness, of a plague which has swept through the village. But no matter how hard he tries to focus, Light cannot hear what the person is saying. It's as though he's listening to a tape through a cardboard tube.
He just wants to sleep. He doesn't want to dream anymore.
But he knows, it will not end here. The pain which is etched into him is still there, replaying over and over inside of him. He can't escape.
– – –
His dream is different. It is not the same as the ones before.
He recognizes it, this... this is from his memory.
At investigation headquarters, it was often just himself and L, with Watari watching them through various surveillance cameras or running errands for the eccentric detective. Usually, though, they were alone. Misa would rarely come visit them and Light was never anxious to go and see her either.
Misa might have been pretty, but he couldn't feel anything for her behind a tenuous friendship.
But this night is like any other; it is just the two of them, reviewing surveillance footage and various leads that have been trickling in. Most of it isn't anything new, but there might be something useful in there; some clue that might have been overlooked.
L is frustrated; Light can tell by the tense set of his shoulders and back, the way he bites his thumb thoughtfully. If he doesn't stop soon, then he is going to make himself bleed.
Gently, Light reaches out and plucks L's thumb from his mouth. He ignores the dirty look that the other man gives him and instead gives him a small smile.
"Don't hurt yourself, Ryuuzaki."
– – –
Each dream is different. He can't predict what will be shown to him next.
This time, it's an old manor house; it looks different from the one he's familiar with. It isn't snowing when he sees it, but he's looking up at it and there is an abandoned feel to it. No one has lived here for many, many years.
He feels a sense of trepidation about this place along with a sense of loss and feeling that there's something here that's important to him. But at the same time, this manor... something about it feels evil. It's as though there is something malevolent lurking inside of its walls.
As always, his limbs are not his own. He moves towards the doors, pushing them open and slipping inside.
This doesn't feel like the other memories, the older ones, the ones which Reika had been carved with. Light isn't sure, but is this a recent memory? Does it belong to someone like him who became lost in the manor?
He thinks that it' s the case.
– – –
Out of the corner of his eyes, he keeps seeing someone: a young man. From what little he knows from these fragmented memories, the man is the woman's brother. This memory is the woman's.
She came looking for her brother and became trapped here. In this manor where there is no escape.
The only way out is to wander deeper and deeper inside of it; just like the manor he found himself in. To leave, the mystery has to be solved and the dead put to rest.
That's... that's the only way she can rescue him.
– – –
Inside of this manor is hell. He died because of her, it's her fault. That's what the strange spirit whispers. She is trapped here, this... this priestess. She can't leave.
Why does it have to hurt?
He wants it to stop hurting.
– – –
Overwhelming pain, he's being torn apart... his eyes were gouged out. The pain is carved into the memories of this manor. The girl carried them with her when she escaped.
But he stayed behind. He left her alone to stay with the priestess. She isn't alone anymore.
The pain won't stop though; it burns and it aches inside of him and he just wishes for it to end. It won't stop. The girl... the girl is trapped in this manor of nightmares, following in the brother that she lost.
If the curse ends, then she will be free. She'll have the answers that she seeks.
He plunges deeper into the dream world.
– – –
This time, it's a village. A village where time has stopped.
There's a girl. She wears a bloodied kimono and she laughs; she laughs and laughs and hunts him down. But he can't leave, he's trapped here for as long as the memory holds him.
The pain is much sharper this time. It's hot and tinged with guilt.
I'm sorry... this is my fault. I won't leave you behind. The words are foreign and echo in his ears. It's not his voice, it's a girl. She's young and searching for his sister. Looking for a way out of this village before it can claim both of their lives.
Why is everything so dark? He doesn't want to suffer anymore.
– – –
The butterflies flutter in the air, their wings a brilliant shade of crimson that stands out against the monochrome of the village.
Deeper and deeper into the village; it conceals a dark secret. A twin must be sacrificed. They must die at the hands of the other.
That is how things have always been here; time doesn't stop, it marches on and repeats itself over and over again.
The ritual must be completed.
– – –
It has been done.
She's dead.
It's all her fault.
The pain... it won't go away.
She is a Remaining now.
It's all her fault.
She killed her. She won't wake up again.
It hurts. The guilt eats at her. It should have been her.
Why...?
She didn't deserve to survive.
– – –
This time, it's his memory again. The familiarity and warmth of it calms him, relaxes him. It eases the pain that he feels aching inside of him. Somehow, it feels like he is being eaten from the inside out by this pain inside of him.
It's the room he shares with L at headquarters. The handcuffs don't allow them to sleep apart because the length of the chain is too short.
Light can't remember the last time that he got a proper night's sleep. Ever since he was chained to the detective, he's been up for most of the night. L hardly sleeps and the constant tapping of computer keys keeps Light awake, along with the bright glare of the laptop screen.
This night, though, he's drifting. He's not quite asleep but he isn't awake either.
He can feel the light brush of fingers in his hair; gently running through the strands and straightening them.
It's awfully relaxing...
Light lets his eyes drift closed and he sleeps. He feels at peace.
– – –
"That moment... always in my eyes... etched in... again and again... it's my fault."
This dream is different. It's familiar though. The pain is vivid and burns through him like a wildfire; it latches onto his own and builds on it until it's nearly unbearable.
He wants to claw at his skin to make it stop but he's pinned down. He wants to stop the memory before it can begin but he is helpless. The stakes which hold him down refuse to let him move and the song of the handmaidens weighs heavily upon him, dragging him back down before he can do much more than think to escape.
No, he doesn't want to see this. It hurts too much.
Someone... someone is calling to him. He can just make out the words.
"... Reika...?"
Light...?
The Chamber of Thorns slowly comes into focus as he blinks his eyes. He can see the priestesses around him impaled on the walls and floor. The area around him is illuminated by a blue light.
There's a man beside him, kneeling on the ground and leaning over him. For a few seconds, he looks like L; all pale skin, dark hair, and black eyes. But then he realizes that it isn't him; the man has dark hair, yes, but it isn't the right shade. It isn't L.
He wishes it were him. He wants to see him once more.
When the man realizes that he's awake, he gives a soft smile and says, "Reika!"
Light!
The relief and happiness in his voice is nearly tangible. His mouth is raised in a soft smile and he seems so happy to see Reika – him? – that it's sweet.
"I'm so happy. In my dreams, I–"
Light sees it, but he can do nothing. His voice will not work.
The hatchet comes down on the back of the man's neck. He falls to the ground with a muffled noise of surprise and shock. His eyes are wide and glassy and stare into Light's.
He can't close his eyes. He doesn't want to see this. It hurts. It feels like he's being torn apart. It hurts. He doesn't want this. This wasn't supposed to happen. He just wanted to see him one more time. It hurts. He just wants it to stop. Why does he alone have to feel this? It isn't fair...
"I don't want to see anymore..."
This is Reika's pain... it's his pain.