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"Are these two correct, Mr. Beyondormason?"

"Mm?" grunted Armonia Justin as he leaned forward towards Near, who was holding up Armonia's Death Note by the corners.

"These two rules: 'The human who uses this Note cannot go to Heaven or Hell', and 'All humans, after death, go to MU (nothingness)'."

Armonia picked at a ruby-like jewel in the back of his head. "Of course they are. They're there, aren't they?"

Near tapped the 'Heaven and Hell' rule. "If all humans go to this nothingness, then that would include Death Note using humans. So why is there an entirely other rule about how humans who've a Death Note can't go to the supposed afterlife?"

Beyondormason snorted. "Why not? 'The human who uses this Note cannot go to Heaven or Hell'. That's just another way of saying there is no Heaven or Hell."

"No," said Near, "not if there already exists a rule that dictates that ALL humans cease to exist after death, when another dictates that only specific humans cease to exist after death."

"It exists because it exists. Why else would it be in the Note?" Armonia Justin was beginning to look irritated. He was obviously having doubts about his temporary accomplice.

"It just seems unnecessary is all," murmured Near. A distinct ping suddenly sounded from a computer behind Beyondormason. A little confused, Beyondormason turned to Near.

Near nodded. "Go on. Answer it."

Awkwardly, Armonia Justin Beyondormason dragged the pointer to the new message and clicked.

With a light push, Near thrust his swivel chair towards the computer. The first thing he saw on the monitor was red. URGENT, read the message, with an online newspaper article attachment. Near hesitantly opened it.

"Tragedy strikes as nearly every inhabitant of the White House died today, all of heart attacks. America's state governments are currently scrambling for executives to act as stand-ins until the next elections," read Near. He turned to Beyondormason.

"What are you looking at me for? All I want is to get that Note back."

"How is it even working? All things considered, it shouldn't be working, unless this special Death Note can withstand a few of the fundamental rules."

Armonia sighed. "It can't. Some of the rules can be excepted for higher class ones, but none of the rules I know that don't apply . . . don't seem to be applicable to this situation."

Near turned back to the article. "It's almost definite that we are dealing with a terrorist group or anarchist group that has your impossible Note in their possession."

"I hope they don't keep it up. Otherwise there won't be anyone left to take the life spans of."

Near smiled faintly. "Should be easy enough to find them. I must confess that Light/Kira's treatment did manage to end most crime syndicates around the world. This will be like picking pieces of paper out of a nearly empty hat . . . unless we're dealing with just a psychotic individual."

"Like Light Yagami?" asked Armonia Justin.

"Indeed," said Near, who'd begun stacking dice absent-mindedly on a corner of the gray table. His free hand started to type a message to Rester and Lidner.

"Send me a list of all confirmed terrorist or anarchist groups that have still been or have become active since the Kira Investigation. SEND."

Beyondormason shifted in his seat, accidentally rattling the chain upon which the Death Notes were attached. "What now?"

"We wait. Then we sift through news reports involving the few groups, find which one has appeared the most prominently, find them, and monitor their actions."

"But what if the most appearing group isn't the one? It could just be a less well known one wanting to get attention."

"That is possible. Or even a less well known person wanting to get attention."

"Mm. So what do we do in the meantime?"

"Wait."

"WAIT! I need that Death Note NOW!"

"Patience, Mr. Shinigami. Surely you can wait."

Armonia Justin quieted. He leaned forward, his dark, bronzy nose almost making contact with the prodigy's snow white hair.

"You don't seem to realize how grave our situation is," hissed Armonia Justin. "We Shinigami have a special sort of device in our realm. It is shaped like a sphere, with a viewing hole in it. It allows us to see every corner of the human world from any view we choose.

"I know what you're thinking, Nate River. If they exist, then why don't the Shinigami simply use them to find whoever is using the prepared Death Note? Many reasons: One, because all the gods of death, excepting me and the King, are lazy at heart, even if they won't admit it. Two, because of this, they need persuasion to look upon every corner of your world endlessly, looking at everything, SEEING everything, having to look over places that have already been watched in case the culprit or culprits have returned. Three, even if they wanted to, they cannot for now. These spherical devices are being destroyed one by one by an unknown Shinigami, and it's a race against time to find and/or make more."

Beyondormason sat back, holding his knees to his bejeweled chest. "This is why I need you for this, human."

Ping. Near opened the new message.

Armonia Justin looked up. "Well?"

"Hmm . . ." said Near as he looked over the short list. Perhaps Kira did make more of an impression than once thought.

"Okay. Okay, all the major groups we have are the Kolas, the Mafia and Kira's Kingdom, although Kira's Kingdom seems to be getting defunct."

Armonia Justin frowned. "Kira's Kingdom seems the most obvious."

"But Teru Mikami and Kiyomi Takada are the only outright Kira supporters who knew about . . . no, that isn't relevant. And the Mafia did have a Death Note when Mello was leading a faction."

"Then why didn't they just do what they might be doing now?"

"Easy. Mello was in charge, and at the time Mello only cared about catching Kira. Of course, Kira was on the mind of the Mafia already, and they and Mello were just using each other. Now that Kira is out of the picture . . . would they really try something on such a grand scale as this?"

"You tell me." It was Armonia Justin's turn to frustrate Near. He looked to Near's perpetual dice tower. "Pretty."

Near grimaced at the advisor of gods of death. "I'm helping you, Shinigami."

"I know. Should that keep me from pointing things out?"

"Please. Even I have some level of respect." Near's black-gray eyes reflected the glint of Armonia's gems beautifully.

"You are a human. I am a god of death." Armonia seemed an octave quieter as he said 'of death'. "Your human mannerisms don't apply to me. I apply to them."

Near scanned the list of possible threats a third time. "Surely you've heard of the word 'diplomacy.'"

Armonia inched backwards. This impudent human boy is contradicting me! If he weren't helping me, I'd . . .

Finally, Armonia nodded. "Perhaps."

For a moment, they sat there. Near was wondering which of the three groups were the least likely of having committed something that would make a freedom fighter urinate on the spot. Armonia Justin, on the other hand, was trying to figure out the new L. Such an odd little creature . . . truly is he the successor of his crouching mentor.

"From process of elimination . . . I'd have to say Kira's Kingdom is the least likely culprit", said Near at last.

"What? Why? They'd probably want to be using the Death Note."

Near grinned at Armonia Justin. "No. Not on the American government. Every single member can't possibly have been involved in some scandal. Kira and his followers are inspired by some sense of justice, not by random acts of terrorism. Besides, David Hoope proclaimed that the U.S. would stay neutral on the subject of Kira, the bastard." Near's smile contorted back into the full-lipped line it usually was.

The lips parted. "That would leave the Mafia and the Kolas."

"Kola? Like the drink?"

"No", sighed Near. "Like the tree. The Kolas are probably the only active crime family in the world right now."

Armonia Justin scratched his chin with a ring-adorned gloved finger. The sound it made as it ground against Armonia's jaw sounded strangely hollow. "Well . . . to me, I think the Kolas are responsible."

"I agree. I don't think the Mafia would be very interested in the murder of political figures."

Armonia Justin sighed. "Well, come on. Go find them."

Near frowned at his reflection in the left jewel eye of the advisor of Shinigami. "It isn't that simple, Mr. Beyondormason. We have no idea where the Kola family is hiding."

"What?" Armonia sounded like a child being denied its promised lollipop. "Why? Don't you have some idea of where they might be hiding? They must've been dealt with before . . . !"

"Yes, back in 2014. But they weren't really even an official group then."

"Explain", said Armonia meekly. He obviously didn't like not being privy to knowledge of potential thieves. Unbeknownst to Near, Armonia was silently cursing himself for dismissing the affairs of humans long ago.

"In 2013, various people committed seemingly random murders around the world in four different countries: the U.S, Korea, Mexico, and Russia. When cornered, they all claimed they were a part of the Kola crime syndicate," Near flicked a lone die from one of the towers of dice he'd made. "They subsequently took cyanide pills hidden in their fake teeth."

Armonia cocked his head. "Humans do such silly things."

"I'm afraid they didn't have much of a choice. They would probably have been sentenced to life in prison, or death." Near paused to rearrange a dice column. "Since then, various thefts and murders have occurred throughout different parts of the globe, all in the name of the Kolas.

"Many detective agencies have tried to gather research on the family name 'Kola', but they haven't made much progress. Besides, everyone was already concerned with Kira."

"I see. Now, what does this have to do with me getting that Note back?"

"If the supposed Kola family is responsible for the government murders, then they must have your missing Death Note. But it still doesn't explain why it's working."

Beyondormason exhaled. For a brief moment, Near wondered where Armonia's lungs were, despite his ribcage appearing empty. "Perhaps . . . I could be mistaken. Perhaps these special Death Notes can coexist with each other, despite the six Death Note rule. Then . . . then that would mean . . ."

Near grinned again. He understood know: Armonia Justin Beyondormason had been lied to. "Then that would mean that the Shinigami King isn't very trustworthy. He's been withholding information from you."

Armonia Justin began to gasp, but caught himself. His weather, brown-gold brow furrowed itself over his pearl-colored crystal eyes. He'd figured it out himself when he reconsidered the Judge working despite six other Notes existing in the human realm . . . but to hear this simple human reveal the fact? He felt even more cheated.

Near rolled his eyes towards Beyondormason. "I told you that I never did have much respect for authority."