Chapter 20 — Light / Dark Part II

The 12th loomed over the body of Light, which was resting in a spot on the carpet untouched by fire. The blue glow that surrounded his body was beginning to return to the body from whence it emanated. He felt the power returning to him, and simultaneously, he felt the fatigue of his body finally sink in. That fight had taken a lot out of him, and not just physically. The ache had a strong emotional current.

"Yomotsu, you're—"

He nodded and let Lunatic finish.

"You're a NEXT."

The 12th turned. He faced the direction his friend's voice came from, like a child who hears his parent yelling for him from afar. There was a gulf between them, or rather, there was a thick forest. Here was the 12th, in the forest, hearing a voice calling from him from far away—muffled by distance yet clear.

"I am," he answered.

"Why did you not tell me?" Lunatic asked. He spoke more like Yuri, however. There was no judgment. There was no fire, only inquire. In fact, if there was any emotion plain in the tones of his voice, it was sadness.

The 12th crossed his arms and, looking down, said, "Because, you're not the only one who has done his research… I know about Albert Maverick, and given my powers…" He took a deep breath. A few deep breaths, in fact. "I can manipulate memories and hypnotize people. Unlike the Memory Implantation NEXT you are used to, however, I cannot remove memories. I can insert new memories and new thoughts."

Lunatic processed the new information in silence before asking, "And what did you just do to Light?"

"I lulled him into deep sleep by NEXT-powered hypnosis," the 12th explained. "This gives us time to decide what to do. Normally, the most righteous path is clear, but this time… We cannot simply allow him to continue as he is. He is too dangerous, even in prison. And, while I can't call him a friend any more, I refuse to let him be killed—"

"I have no intentions," Lunatic quickly clarified. "I want to burn the notebook, but I know that if I do so, it would kill the owner. The best thing would be to simply remove this cursed book from the world, but it appears we cannot do that. Only Light can do that by relinquishing ownership, and there is no way he would do that by his own choice."

The 12th caught on quickly to the insinuation, for he too had been considering it. He heard Lunatic walk toward the bed, where the Death Note was sitting. He appeared to be flipping through the book for some time, reading the rules. Then he closed the book and addressed the 12th again.

"I confirmed it. The notebook has a 13 day rule. If the owner does not write a name in the notebook in 13 days, the owner shall die. We cannot simply take the book from him and not use it. The laws that govern this wretched notebook are unmovable. I need you to hypnotize Light into giving up the Death Note. The rules state that when the Death Note is given up, all memory of the Death Note will vanish from the user's mind. Light will know himself simply as Light, who moved to Graceville. I suggest you fill in the gaps with a motivation, so he does not begin to question too seriously why he is here. I suggest that you let him know that he is here to explore the world a bit, to see life outside of Japan firsthand… And I would, while you're at it, help him get over Mercy."

The 12th considered it all. "I can't let him forget about her," he said slowly. "Even if I could erase memories, that's one memory I would refuse to erase."

"That is not what I am suggesting," Lunatic clarified. "Simply help him out, in some way. I trust you will think of the right way."

No more discussion was needed. The 12th bent down onto one knee and placed his hand on Light's forehead again. The blue glow returned. A white light seeped through from underneath the 12th's hand as he implanted two strong thoughts: Relinquish ownership of the Death Note and Be happy for Mercy by letting her live without feeling guilty about what happened between you and her.

The 12th rose again. He said solemnly, "When he wakes up, he will ask to give up the notebook. Then… He will continue forth as Light, as Luke. He will not know that we know about his identity as Light, I am convinced, but on that same subject, he will not have any reason to hide his real identity any more. These two thoughts I have given him will transform him tremendously. Normally, I would refrain from using my powers like this, but given the circumstances, this might be the right thing to do."

Lunatic reassured him by placing a hand on his shoulder. It was warm. It was unusual. No one deliberately touched him. There was usually no one around to even reach out to him like this. But the 12th allowed the hand to stay. It helped.

"You should have told me," the 12th said quietly.

Lunatic "hmph'd" and answered back, "I could say the same thing to you."

The hand was removed. The 12th turned his head toward his partner. "I do not let people know much about me, as a rule. I have accepted that the path of justice is always lonely. But when I do let people in… They leave, and the pain of their absence is substantial. Thus, I do not know how much to reveal to a person, even if I do trust them. I do not know where to draw lines any more. As a result, I draw the lines too short sometimes, because I know in the past that not drawing them at all led to me getting hurt… and how can I be a righteous hero, if I let petty friendships stop me from my mission?"

In this manner, Yomotsu summarized one of his weaknesses. He skimmed the icy surface of deep waters; he could not yet let anyone break through and plunge. His brevity betrayed the real issue at hand, and if anyone was going to get to the bottom of this difficulty, there was no telling how far the person would have to dive. Yomotsu feared losing the person in the dark depths, when the pressure mounts and they would be rendered as blind as he.

Lunatic brought his attention back with an odd chuckle. It was a sad little laugh.

"Yomotsu… What have I told you about a young woman named Vidalia?"

Weeks passed.

Yuri poured himself a cup of warm tea and added honey to it. He reflected on what had all transpired.

He had told Yomotsu about Vidalia, as much as he could recall, as much as he could express while remaining composed, and as much each situation seemed to warrant. He told the 12th about the young woman he let into his life, who killed herself one day by falling down a waterfall. He told him about what rain felt like. He still was not sure what snow felt like, so he did not say much about that.

Graceville was white now. It was getting cold. The holidays were approaching, and Yum Yums was decked out in Christmas décor. Mercy had volunteered quite eagerly to lead the decoration efforts. She requested two other employees to help her out: Yomotsu and him. Her selection was interesting.

She still was not aware of who they were. Apparently, Light really had not told her anything. But she naturally did take a growing liking to them. It was weird, how time transitioned. Now it was Mercy who hung out with them, instead of Luke. It started with them helping with decorations, but then it expanded to just hanging out right after work, when they all got done at the same time and went out for a bite to eat.

As for Luke, he was a harder worker than ever. People were happy to see him back in his A game and suddenly in much better spirits. He even got along well with Mercy, on a casual basis. He spoke nicely with Yomotsu and Yuri, but he was so busy these days with volunteer work in the community and the extra work hours he was taking on to notice that his two friends were pulling away from him sharply.

Meilag became accepted as part of the Yum Yums community, but he was certainly not too drastically altered by this acceptance. He was regarded as the gloomiest, darkest persona in the store, and it was in a very deliberate manner that he was left to haunt the backroom and kept away from customers. Meilag could often be heard making little snide remarks about Kira. In little time, Meilag went from being regarded as a supporter of Kira to a critic. He absolutely hated the cowardice Kira showed by disappearing.

In the post-Kira world, there was a fearful pause in criminal activity. No one knew if this was simply part of Kira's master plan. Yomotsu and Yuri knew, however, that after the holidays, this break in the action would change with the coming of the New Year. They could retire their suits for only a short period of time, but this vacation was still quite welcomed.

Yomotsu was sharing more about himself with Yuri. The advent of Kira tested their friendship, but Light's defeat marked the beginning of a new sense of trust and closeness between the two. Just as Luke was in good spirits, so too was Yomotsu. He was watching a lot of Power Rangers now, and he drank a lot of hot chocolate. He did not even seem to be phased by Mercy's continuous appearance alongside them when fighting the little crime that did surface. There was never a time without any injustice, after all. Yomotsu's Justice Diary was now giving them tips in advance of criminal activity, allowing them to spring into action. JusTV was proving itself to be remarkably vigilant, and it would catch every exploit the two heroes made. Mercy, following JusTV, would show up in her in usual clothing. There was some speculation from JusTV reporters and commentators on who this mysterious follower was: a new sidekick, perhaps?

When Mercy called Yomotsu, "true justice," he was not phased. He simply accepted it and thanked her. When she went so far as to say, "You're the greatest person in my life," he let that fuel his fighting even more. By the time Yuri set down to drink his warm tea with honey, he had a lot to reflect upon.

He looked out the window. There, in the snow, was Mr. Legend. He stood like a snowman. The look he gave him was cold enough. Yuri had been seeing him a lot lately. He sipped his tea. Now that Mercy was saying these things to Yomotsu, and now that she was inviting them to spend time with her more often, it made him truly start to wonder about things.

Mercy did not appear to know anything about Luke being Kira. She probably knew he was Light Yagami, and she probably knew quite about his life in Japan. But the short, thin girl with the blonde bobcut, the ends of whose hair were blue to match her eyes, knew nothing for Kira. She was, in fact, one of the most pleased that Kira was out of the picture.

When she requested to spend time with him and Yomotsu, she did not know that they were Lunatic and the 12th. Something drew her, still, to them. Perhaps, on some level, she was drawn to them because they were those same heroes, and she perceived similar traits in them that she liked in the heroes, even if on an unconscious level. If this was true, however, then Yuri was left to ask himself: did she like Luke, because she liked the same traits present in Kira? How could someone who apprehended on such a deep level that the schemes of justice that were present in the 12th and Lunatic were also present in Yomotsu and Yuri—that is, how could someone who could apprehend something so subtle as that not apprehend that the traits in Luke were the same traits in Kira?

Yuri reflected that nothing in Luke's persona made him seem like a ruthless killer. He considered that, had it not been for the clear fingerprint analysis, he would not have suspected Luke. Even now that Ryuk had taken back his Death Note, there was no resemblance of a killer in him. It was quite possible, remarkable as it seemed, that Mercy had as little an idea of him being Kira as they did. If he was false with them, he could have been false with her.

Yuri recalled, then, how Ryuk had spoken with him that night. After Yomotsu had planted thoughts of deep sleep in Luke's mind, Yuri had gone to check the Death Note's rules. As he flipped through the pages of the notebook, picking it up from the bed, the Shinigami addressed him. As the 12th had not touched the Death Note at any point, only Yuri heard him. Ryuk spoke with the confidence of knowing that.

"You know… You could ask to be the next owner of the Death Note. Just as I dropped the notebook in this world once, I could always do it again. Accidents happen. You're not as arrogant as Light is. You wouldn't let yourself be caught like this, and with the Death Note and Shinigami Eyes, you could finally change this world to your liking…"

He had closed the Death Note and ignored him entirely. It really was that simple. He could not accept the terms of the Death Note. He would not kill again. Yet Mr. Legend kept following him. He felt disgust at himself in the past, and he felt unsure about the present, let alone the future.

In a sense, little changed: they all still worked at Yum Yums, Mercy still followed them as they fought crime, Olivia still asked Yomotsu to help her with puzzles, and they still drank Grape Fanta. Yet, there was something changed within the dark recesses of their characters. Knowledge changed everything. They knew about Luke, and they knew about each other. Now, it appeared they were going to learn about the others: about Mercy, about Olivia, about perhaps even Meilag.

Yuri did not know what to say in moments like this, even to himself. In that quiet, he could hear only the voice of Thanatos say, "It can't remain this way forever. There is peace now, but soon, a red moon will rise again over Graceville."

Yuri sipped his tea, and he watched the snow fall.

"Time's running out. You're gonna die soon, and you still haven't chosen a replacement!"

Deus Ex Machina, god of time and space, closed his eyes. From his seat in the Cathedral of Causality, he observed the world and pulled the strings that could affect the natural course of human life. With his powers dwindling, however, it was becoming increasingly difficult for him to complete his role.

Muru Muru floated in front of him. The little demon had her hands on her hips. "You have to at least start thinking of who is going to be in charge next, or else the whole world is going to go poof!"

Deus groaned. "I am well aware of what could happen, Muru Muru," he responded. "But I am conflicted. I see no means of easily picking out a successor. At the present, I am deciding which trait matters most in this search. I think I am finally reaching a conclusion. More than no other characteristic, it is one's sense of justice that makes him or her fit to rule. I will think more on it, but if this is my true conclusion, then I will soon have orders for you, Muru Muru. Do not worry."

He opened his eyes, and he cast before himself a window into the human world. He watched as Yomotsu and Yuri talked and drank grape Fanta.