#27 Desert
All of a life, in a grain of sand.
Slowly and steadily he makes he way through the realm of the reapers. On the rare occasion he sees one of them, they jeer and laugh and question what is he doing here?
More often, though, they say nothing.
His task is simple. His task is selfish.
For before he may be allowed into the kingdom where honey and milk flow like water, where the sun does not set and the wicked are not welcome… he has to absolve himself of his sins.
With one good deed he must change the fate of two unfairly judged. More than one innocent soul must be spared.
He stares at the sand around his feet. The sun beats down into his black hair and hurts his scalp.
He knows that as he is dead he cannot feel pain nor thirst, but his body remembers those feelings and tells him they're happening anyway.
The sand is… odd.
He moves into his signature crouch, scoops up a handful. He presses some of the grains between two fingers and notices the soft residue it leaves.
He has never seen sand like this before. It smells faintly of copper, and seems to sparkle in an odd way. Not just light reflecting from sediment, but with a glitter all its own.
"It is the sand of time, boy."
He turns, falling down as he spins hurriedly, throwing up more of the strange dust.
Before him is darkness.
A creature so cursed and wicked that the sunlight dares not shine on him, and he walks in a perpetual night. With keen eyes, one might look into the darkness, but never see it's face, only unpleasant suggestions of what is waiting if you dare come closer to the dark.
"Sand of time?" he whispers.
The creature laughs. "It is the sand that goes into the hourglasses that count down a human's life span. Imagine that, boy. All this desert… it is life and death."
He tries not to think about that. It might drive him mad. He focuses on what he came here to do. Find the two unfairly judged.
He tells the creature as much. It appears to smile.
"Ah yes, boy. I know very well where they are. And you are fortunate they are not among this desert of time."
He sighs, relieved that he does not have to seek through each grain of sand. "Where are they?"
The creature laughs in it's dark nest. "First, a story, to make you better understand what you are seeking." It paused. "The creatures in the realm of the dead, they cannot themselves die… only their existence may change. When a creature of this world loves one of yours… and kills to protect them…"
The boy nods. "I know, they…" he frowns, remembering that the creatures here cannot die.
"They become sand of time." The creature hisses. "Many pass on when they run out of years and are too old and decrepit to gather more. But the ones who die for love… they are special indeed. They are placed in the one they died for's hourglass."
The fallen angel understands. He nods slowly. "Where is Misa Amane's hourglass?"
The Reaper King shuffles for a moment in his blackness, then slowly, a hand of polished bone seeps out of the darkness, and offers an hourglass.
The angel blinks. "It's close to emptying."
"Her life is forfeit, as is her soul." The king whispers, his voice like a knife. "I will keep her soul when she passes, and in return, you will have the two who deserve heaven."
He blinks. How is he supposed to make a choice such as this? Yes, the two reapers deserve their places in the land of peace, but Misa, she is not at heart a wicked girl. Because of one stupid mistake she is doomed to this land of sand and rust?
"You can't do it, can you?" the thing in the darkness mocks. "You can't give up her soul for theirs. Haha, you humans are so predictable."
He swallows. "Her soul is not mine to give… King, I will make you another deal."
The reaper leans forward in its pool of darkness. "A deal?"
The fallen angel nods slowly. "Let all three of them pass through the gates to heaven. And in return, take me." He lowers his head. His reasoning is sound, as it always is. He was a wicked man in life and truthfully does not deserve to enter the heavenly fold. But Jealous and Rem, they died for love, whom could call that wicked? And Misa… misguided, but not evil, never evil.
The king begins to laugh hard, "Deal." He hisses, throwing the hourglass into the air. It shatters at the peak of it's flight and three shimmering white lights sweep through the air like feathers in the breeze, disappearing to a place where only the good may go.
The Shinigami king howls in laughter and reaches to drag the boy into his black domain. He does not resist.
And then the sun shines. It shines brighter than it ever has in this place before. The darkness around the king begins to melt away like ice, and the fallen angel shields his eyes from the unknown horror within.
He listens intently to what follows.
A voice, warm and kind, flickering between genders and ages speaks first.
"Let him go."
The king hisses back. "You heard him, he made a deal for the souls of the other three. The girl and the two reapers you so desired."
"I did hear. And because he chose to give up his own place for them, he has absolved himself of any wickedness in life."
The king shrieks in rage. "A trick?! Damn you! It was a trick!"
"No trick, your highness, he offered the only thing he had that was his to give. He is not of your world now. Do not fret or hate, there will always be others."
The boy feels a warm energy embrace him, when he opens his eyes he is in a world of soft whiteness. He feels a strange weight on his back and peers over his shoulder.
Feathery wings are sprouting from his shoulder blades, fluttering gently as he tests their control. He looks above his head to confirm what he cannot believe. A circlet of gold hovers above him.
His actions were unselfish, and his is absolved.
That warm and loving voice speaks, but once more to him.
"Come, L Lawliet."
And he does.