I held her around the waist as if she rode a motorbike. I looked in awe at this dimension that was in front of us. A world which looked considerably similar to the images we see on a planetarium! Images that NASA works on and explores. Planets, stars, galaxies, black holes nebulas... Images I never imagined I would see in real life. Well... That's what I thought so when we entered the ball. Because after a while, comets of different shapes and colours passed in front of us. Some had a triangle shape. Others had a square one. Some others were even rectangular-shaped. A few of them were circled shaped. We saw green comets, red, blue and even colourful ones. And so were the planets. Like snap cubes scattered across space. The air I breathed reminded me of oxygen, even though there's no atmosphere in space. I suppose Nyx's power helped me to breathe.
"Do you see, Marina?"
"I do..." I replied enchanted by this surrealistic area.
"What do you think of it?"
"It doesn't look like space. It mostly looks like a work of Dali."
"That's because this is not the space of your universe. Though, I skipped to tell you they have their own natural laws as well. But, I suppose you understand that from the meaning of the word."
The goddess turned and showed me two triangular planets located a few meters away from us.
"For instance, the spherical shape in this dimension is rare. Most of the planets have triangular, square or even polygon shapes. My eyes have seen a variety of shapes. I've seen all kinds of shapes except the circular one. Even the simplest physical laws differ from your own universe. For example, the water here boils at zero degrees Celsius and freezes at one hundred degrees."
"Incredible! You can be burned in the cold and freeze in the heat!" I commented.
"You can say that indeed. Yesterday when I went for a walk here, I found a pentagon planet with rivers and lakes made of mercury. The liquid stored in thermometers, you know. I got thirsty so I drank some from a river. Do you know what it tasted like?"
"No, tell me."
"It was carbonated orange juice. It just needed a teaspoon of coffee to be tastier."
"But it's mercury! They're two different chemical elements!"
"Each dimension has quite different physic laws. Odd to say the least. Don't forget that! Now you know that in the dimension 641 mercury tastes like carbonate, ice is hot and that heat is ice." Nyx summarized.
"What's the 641?"
"I have divided each universe into numbers to know which is which. You Marina, came from a relatively nearby area, the NM. —Neighborhood of the Mortals—. Dimensions that are quite similar to yours. They start from number 1 until 640. From there, begin the most extraterrestrial things for humans. Things you will never be able to comprehend. Simply because even if it'll be scientifically proven that parallel worlds exist, you'll never be able to get to know them in depth. Yes, I did give you my power. But we are currently travelling at the speed of light. And it is practically impossible for a common mortal to survive at such speed, so he can discover all the billions of universes being created every minute. I think you can understand that."
I was listening to what she talked about. Although I was still trying to figure out how mercury can taste like carbonate.
"Yeah... I do."
"You should be proud you managed to see my father's greatest achievement. Few common mortals remember what the universes contain, because most of them forget about them after waking up," she added.
"So... Goddess Nyx..." I was about to bring the conversation back to normal.
"Do not call me goddess. It feels like am an old woman. Just Nyx is fine." she giggled.
"So, Nyx. You said that after the Neighborhood of Mortals, we can see the universes that are strange to us humans."
"That's right"
"Is there a version of the Kira case that you brought me to see? Perhaps one that is just as bizarre as this place?"
"Of course, there is, but not here. I brought you here just for a tour. To see for yourself what parallel worlds really are. It's different telling than seeing it yourself. In the universe 641 humans don't even exist. Neither do they at 642. They're non-existent until the universe 800. The Kira case is located in the Neighborhood of Mortals."
She must have noticed the curiosity in my expression. I may be interested in the Kira case, but I wanted to know more about this mysterious dimension. I discovered something unprecedented and the exploration won't continue?
"The tour will be continued another time. Okay?"
"Fine"
For a while, we found ourselves floating in the void. Although I knew I wouldn't fall due to Nyx's power, my stomach was still tightened. The goddess noticing my expression full of awe and nervousness held my hand and we both sank into this pitch-black extraterrestrial dimension. But we didn't turn around to go back to the balls. Why though? She said there is a reason why we continue to move forward. After all, as it seems, she wanted to make the trip more interesting.
**
*
My eyes spotted a black hole. Larger than the triangular and square planets we had seen so far. It was certainly bigger than the sun. Its pitch-black mass, black as petroleum, seemed more frightening than the universe itself. Nyx's light that showered us was not enough to illuminate its interior. Even if it seemed like a LED lamp. The eerie sound coming from inside sounded like a storm. Almost like the sound of a hurricane. There was no apparent danger, but just the colour in combination with the sound, raised my pulse for a while. I perched on Nyx's arm.
"Don't be fooled by this mass, child." the goddess said reassuringly.
"It's not the black hole you know. In order not to mix them with the usual black holes, I have named these "universal funnels". And it's just what the name says: A funnel which transfers you through the universes."
"Will this take us to the Neighborhood of Mortals?"
"Naturally. More specifically in the universe 333, which is a few meters from your own one, 331. How was your experience in the Kira case?"
"I would say it was funny. There certainly were serious moments, but most of them were kind of humorous." I answered.
"Now you're going to see the exact opposite."
Without a second thought, Nyx stood in the middle of the entrance and lit it. The hole made a sound like a vacuum cleaner, thus sucking us inside. I wasn't thinking much at that time, except for my experience so far. The only thing I was interested in the most, was what I would see in this version of the case. To be honest, I was terrified just by the thought that the Light I met in my own universe isn't the real one, or that the L I met isn't the real one. Even worse, the thought that there's no such thing as real. That these concepts are not absolute. It's just how each resident thinks of their dimension. And when you're a mortal who realizes that what they knew doesn't exist as truth and lies, fills you with curiosity and terror at the same time. Because you start thinking: "If I am just one of the many versions of myself, then how am I in the other dimensions?"
"How does the funnel know in which universe you want to go?" I asked to break the monotony for a while.
"When I stand in the middle of the entrance, the funnel can see what am I thinking."
I didn't ask any further questions. I knew Nyx had a reason for taking me to these dimensions.
*
"Well, kid, I must tell you a very important detail before I show you what is this about," she said after we arrived.
"It is not uncommon for the chronology or even a location of an event to change. As in dimension 332. The events do not take place in 2006 but in 2003. Three years back as you can see. This though does not make a big difference, but in dimension 256 if I remember correctly, the case takes place in the nineteenth century instead of the twenty-first. What are you going to witness has the same date as your own dimension, but the case ends in 2013 instead of 2007. The shareholders will have no consciousness of us, due to we came from another world."
"Is that all?"
"Yes. The rest will speak for itself."
Then, as if by magic, the secret base appeared before us. It was the same as I remembered it! The screens, the computers with the hidden files the police officers... Everybody was there! Though something seemed different. As if it was far away from my own universe. The lights were off and the only visible light lit up in the room were the big screens. There was a white background with a huge text in them: «All data deletion»
"Data deletion? What's going on?"
"I told Watari to erase all information in the event that something happened to him."
"Something happened to him?!"
"Where's the shinigami?"
"I don't see her..."
"What in the bloody hell is going on?!"
"Everyone! The shiniga-"
Then silence. Condensated feelings filled in their voice. Terror, agony, confusion, all these mixed up together. The thunder sounds heard from the outside, made the ambience even more agonizing. The calmest of all was definitely L! Just as I remember him! Courageous, fearless! Nothing makes him scared! Or at least that's what I thought until this scene passes by my eyes, like a movie scene.
He leaned to the left. The spoon he held slipped from his hand. And when it fell on the floor at last, the metallic sound was heard as breaking glass. Even if it was just a spoon. Light stood right behind the detective chair. He stared at him with a frightful look.
Just before he tumbled to the floor, Light's hand reached out to the other man's neck. Almost like he hugged him. Both of their bodies fell. L's body posture spoke for itself. As if it said:I have no more strength! I'm dying!
"Ryuzaki! What's going on?!" Matsuda's childlike voice broke the silence for a moment. This deafening silence... They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Though this one wasn't worth a thousand but a million words. How many terrified looks, how many emotions, how much terror had surrounded them all... I approached the embracing men. Kira still had that shocked expression. As if he wasn't expecting what would happen. L's expression on the other hand was the expression of someone dying, but at the same time, I could see intense emotions in his watery eyes. The same with Light. Somehow I felt that behind this expression there was a malevolent smile. And his eyes! It's told the eyes are the windows of the soul! It is true at last. A look full of disgust and hate... As if he said:Finally, you died!He had his index finger and thumb resting on L's neck. He figured out there was no pulse. Of course, he didn't want to show his delight and so let out a fake scream of agony.
"Watari is dead! Ryuzaki is dead! We're all gonna be dead!"
That was the moment everyone went mad. One of them fell onto the floor in this unsettling scene. Others tried to find the exit. A real chaos! The knot in my throat was throbbing. I didn't want to look at the corpse. The goddess's hand rested on my shoulder.
"Well? What do you think?"
"Think what? He's dead! Should I be happy about that?"
"As you can see, in this dimension, his heart stopped functioning before he could complete the most important case of his life."
"You mean it was a heart attack."
"Exactly."
"But Light didn't kill him."
"Rem killed him, not Light. Do you remember her?"
I wiped some tears off my cheeks. "I do. But why did she?"
"We'll talk about this another time, kid. Now we're going to see the end of the case."
Again, magically, the location changed in a matter of seconds. We were now in a room completely unknown to me. It resembled an abandoned house. The walls had faded. The same with the floor and ceiling. The humidity that had accumulated in the room gave you a sense of coldness and inhospitality. I distinguished my partners as well as Light, who seemed to be a few years older. There were also faces new to my own eyes. I was about to ask the goddess who they were, but she told me to be silent by putting her finger on her lips.
A psychotic laugh was heard. I was sure I had heard it again in the case at some point. A laugh not just the laugh of someone insane. It was a madman's laugh! It was Light! Kira to be exact.
"That's right! I am Kira!" He said as if he did a grand finale on the stage.
"What are you going to do now? You'll kill me?!" No one answered.
"Listen to me, I am Kira! But also... The God of the new world!
»In today's society, Kira claims law and order. I'll soon be justice! The hope of humanity! And you'll kill me for that? Is that the right thing to do? Since Kira appeared, the wars have stopped. Crime rates have dropped by seventy per cent. And yet... This world is still rotten! It still has bastards! As soon as this notebook fell into my hands, I realised I was the chosen one! The only one who had to save the world!"
Then he vented.
"I know murder is a crime, but there was no other way to fix things! That... That was my only goal! Who else would have succeeded if they were me?! To have come this far?! To the point where everyone is afraid of him?! So I am... The God of the new world!"
An unknown voice was heard. "I wouldn't say the same. You're just another murderer."
Their movements stopped abruptly. As if I watched a movie and someone pressed pause. I looked at the goddess. She explained that this setting is unfamiliar to me and that things are going to be said related to this version of the case.
"I hope you don't mind me advancing time ten minutes ahead."
"Of course, I don't. Just tell me when you press play."
The scene in front of me went faster like a video on the editing, until it stopped at a certain point. Nyx clapped and their movements returned. Of course, their body position had changed. Especially Matsuda's. He held his gun aiming at Light. He shot him.
"You fucking idiot!! Who do you think you're shooting at?! How dare you resist me?!"
Matsuda's hands were shaking. "Your father... What did he die for?!"
"Father? You mean Yagami Soichiro?! That's right, Matsuda! Overly earnest people with a strong sense of justice like him, always lose in the end! Is that the society you want to live in?! I know you understand... You really do! Kill them! Shoot them!!"
"You drove your own father to death... How can you call him a loser?!"
Within seconds, this intense scene turned into hatred. Anything I would say at that moment would be little. I didn't comment. I was shocked, so nothing came out to say. I just watched it... The young policeman screamed. Within four shots threw the killer down. He approached him furiously. His eyes glimmered!
"I... I'll kill him! He has to die!"
He aimed the body once again with the last shot being the strongest. The killer looked at the ceiling with a blank stare while the other police officers held Matsuda. He gasped for breath.
"Fuck... What the hell?!"
Kira tried to stand on his feet. He turned and looked at a black-haired man staring at him frightened.
"Mikami... What are you looking at?! Help me, you idiot! Kill them for fuck's sake!"
The pain made him groan. Everyone was just watching. No one was willing to help. "Where are you, Misa?! Where's Takada?!"
I didn't know who Mikami or Takada was. They must have been very important people in the life of this version of Kira. He uttered their names with anger and despair. I turned and looked at Nyx.
"Nyx, don't you have anything softer to show me?" I said feeling my eyes tearing again.
"Oh? I thought you disliked Light."
"Indeed, he went mad due to death note, but it's not like am a misanthropist. I can't bear seeing a person suffering and I, being just an observer."
"That is why I did not bring you to this dimension when you travelled with the marker. Because you would be traumatized. If you want, however, we can leave. There's nothing important to see anyway. After a while, he goes out, Ryuk kills him and thus, this kid's life ends ingloriously, which unfortunately changed dramatically due to this notebook. If Hades was here, he wouldn't have liked the tactic of the shinigamis at all." she commented with her last sentence.
"Moreover, I do have something to show you in dimension 334. I will explain what it is about when we arrive."
"Will we make it on time?"
"Of course, we will! I'm a goddess. I can do anything I wish with time."