CHAPTER 4: A NEW FACE

"This is very strange," thought Light. He has had quite a bit of time to think, actually. They have been walking most of the day and that left nothing for Light to do but think. "Why is it that the entire time I've been here, I haven't had the urge to use the bathroom, feel parched, or eat? Perhaps me being in the Shinigami Realm has an effect on my humanity? Well, I guess it's an advantage. I don't have to stop and rest or find food." They reached another gathering of Shinigami, this time with a little more inhabitants than the other one they were at before. "Maybe Shinigami prefer to live in groups. Hm. Just like us humans." Light was amused by that thought. Shinigami always acted like they were superior to humans. But now he realizes there are more similarities than he first thought.

Ryuk recognized a Shinigami on the edge of the group. "Hey, Calikarcha," Ryuk said in a raised voice. The Shinigami, Calikarcha, looked over at Ryuk and the group and waved at them. He then motioned them to come over to him. Once Light got closer, he realized that this Death God was strange looking, even for Shinigami standards. He has eight eyes lined up two rows on each side of his head, making his head very long. He has inscriptions running down his arms and legs, a kind that Light has never seen before. He is quite slender and pale colored. He had some fur on his shoulders. Now that Light is close to him he sees that the Shinigami can move each eye independently, like a chameleon. "Hey, Ryuk, I thought you were in the human world," he looks at Light, "Oh, I see. He died. Okay. So, what did you come her for, Ryuk?"

"We are on our way to see Armonia," Ryuk replied truthfully.

"Hm, an interesting journey. Well, you're going the right direction, I can tell you that. I can't tell you much more though," Calikarcha said.

"We know that. We talked to Zellogi a while ago. He told us to go this way."

"Oh, okay. I'm going to take a guess here and say that your party of humans are looking for the Shinigami King?"

Misa looked surprised that he knew that. Calikarcha saw her reaction and said, "By her reaction, I am guessing that I'm right? Well, you two humans can't see the Shinigami King. You physically cannot see him. You need the Shinigami Eyes in order to see him, and I can tell just by looking at you two that neither of you have the Shinigami Eyes," Calikarcha explained.

"And since you are no longer have a life to cut in half, you cannot make the deal with me or any other Shinigami," Ryuk added. Light's brain was working a mile a minute trying to think of a way around this obstacle that has been put in front of him. "Dammit…." Light cursed under his breath.

Calikarcha interrupted his thought process. "But there is a way to receive the Shinigami Eyes in the Shinigami Realm." Light's eyes widened in the realization that there was a way past the obstacle. Calikarcha went on, "There is a Shinigami who resides here. Her name is Nu. She is over in that direction," Calikarcha pointed on the direction to the right of Light. "She is very intelligent and isn't very easy to bribe. She hasn't moved from the same spot ever since she has been created. And she has no problem killing anyone she wants to kill," he explained to the group. "So only go to her if you have to. She is the second strongest Shinigami, only the Shinigami King is above her. Not even Armonia is as powerful or skillful as she is."

"Light, are you sure you want to go to her?" Misa asked with a little fear in her voice.

"Don't worry, Misa. I can handle this Shinigami. I am the God of the new world, after all," Light said with some pride.

An unfamiliar female voice came from behind Calikarcha. "Hey, are those more human beings?"Everyone turned to see who was behind him. She was running toward the group. She stopped a couple of feet away from Light. She stared at Misa and him in bewilderment. "I didn't know there were more Death Note users like me!" she exclaimed in disbelief. Light examined her closely. She seemed to be in her mid-twenties. She had blonde hair that went down to her shoulder blades. But the oddest thing to Light about this woman that she was wearing a Nazi SS uniform. It was dirty and ragged, but still recognizable. She had the Nazi swastika red band on her left arm. She also is wearing the Death Skull on her hat and her entire suit was black. It was a standard Nazi SS uniform. The woman was still staring at the two other humans, mouth agape. "This is unbelievable. I've been stuck here for 70 years and I haven't seen a single person. But now, there are two, right in front of me!"

Light was the first of the group to respond to this woman's appearance. "Who are you?" Light asked her bluntly.

She looked at him, right in the eyes, and said, "My name is Seraphina Kiefer. And as you can already tell, I was a Nazi," she was very blunt about this fact, and even told them, even though the fact was obvious because of her get-up. "I heard Calikarcha talking about Nu so I got curious and came over to see what was going on. As I was walking over here, I saw humans so I got excited and ran over here." She spoke with a slight German accent. Her eyes were piercing and blue. It was an icy gaze, and she was staring right into Light's eyes, as if she is looking into his soul, like she was reading his entire being, figuring out who he is. Light saw out of the corner of his eyes that Misa wasn't happy that Seraphina was staring at him.

"Can you tell us how you got here, Seraphina?" Light asked, using his good looks and charm to try to win over this attractive female Nazi.

Seraphina began her story. "Well, it was the 21st of August, 1944. I was in charge of a concentration camp named Treblinka in the eastern part of Poland, near the city of Bialystok. But this concentration camp was designed for the mass killings of Jews. This, was an extermination camp. But this camp was special. We didn't kill Jews with gas chambers or shoot them in the heads. We used the Death Note. I was in possession of it. It was a very efficient way of killing Jews. I was very close friends with Adolf Hitler. I showed him the Death Note and he put me very high up on the SS chain of command. But this was near the end of the war, where Hitler's mind was clouded and his judgment not as good as in the beginning of the war. He didn't see the fact that I could have killed Roosevelt, Stalin, Churchill, or whoever else was in power that was against us. So, I followed orders."

"Well, anyway, on that day, the Russians launched an assault on our extermination camp. We couldn't stop them. There were way too many Russians for our small army of SS members. We were overrun within a half an hour. They took a few prisoners. I was one of them. We were lined up on the east wall of the camp, unarmed. Two high-ranking Red Army officers were discussing our fate. I could tell. They kept mumbling and looking back at us. Finally, one of them told the four Red Army soldiers who were guarding us something in Russian. Then they started killing us. Apparently, they took no prisoners in this situation. I was the third one to be executed. Then, I came here. I know why I am being punished and I accept that. In the beginning I tried to get out of the endless torture. I went to go talk to Nu."

Light's eyes widened. "This woman could help my cause," he thought to himself. "She could prove to be very useful. If she has meet Nu, then she knows certain things that may help me."

Seraphina continued her story. "She couldn't help me. She even threatened to kill me if I didn't leave her. So, I left, and I came here. I've been here ever since. To my count, I killed a total of 162,421 Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals, enemies of the Reich and others the Nazis deemed "inferior". And I have been punished 100,821 times. So I have 61,600 deaths left before I disappear forever."

"Hm," Light was thinking to himself. "This woman, Seraphina, could become quite useful. I should keep her close. The fact that she is a female could make this situation even easier, making her prone to my charm." Light spoke aloud this time. "Well, Ms. Kiefer that is quite some story. I don't mean to be blunt in this but, I think we could help each other."

"Really?" Seraphina said. "How so?"

"Well…" Light started, but a voice cut him off.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the infamous Light Yagami. I didn't expect to see you here."

Light turns around and sees a familiar face. There is a man standing a ways away from the group, wearing a black suit. His red hair is slicked back, he stands with confidence, and he has a smug smirk on his face. "I can't believe you used the Death Note too, Light"

"So…you're here too…" Light confirmed, somewhat surprised to see who is standing in front of him.