Ryuk glowered at Hellenos. "Well, no use pretending you're not there anymore," he said sourly. "But hey, long time no see, eh?" He waved a clawed hand towards the angel. "Last time we ran into each other was in the wilderness with Elijah, wasn't it?"

Hellenos gave the shinigami a cool look but said nothing.

Ryuk rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, you didn't say much back then, either," he grumbled. "Looks like you got assigned a new cowardly human, did you? And a marked one, at that! First a man who calls down fire from heaven, and now a girl who escapes death. You must be one of His favorites." He said these last words with a sneer.

Jubilee exchanged a glance between the two. "You know each other?"

He doesn't have favorites, as you well know already, Hellenos answered the demon smoothly.

Ryuk cackled at that. "Doesn't He?" he returned, laughing. "Come on, now! You know as well as I do that He's had favorites since the beginning!" He pointed a long claw at Jubilee and she took another step back, closer to Hellenos. "He's favored these measly, pathetic creatures of dust since time began. Surely you remember, back in the garden, don't you? When he gave these idiots dominion over the whole earth? Look at what they've done with it, since then! And what did they do to earn all that power? That trust? Nothing! Nothing at all...which is exactly what He gave to the rest of us." He stopped grinning and gave Hellenos a calculating gaze. "Surely you can see my old man's point of view, can't you? We are the ones who deserve rule over the universe. We were the ones who were with Him first! And what thanks did we get for that? Nothing," he finished bitterly. He extended a clawed hand to Hellenos. "It's not too late, you know...you could still switch sides."

Hellenos ignored Ryuk's claw. His eyes remained locked on the demon's and his face stayed expressionless. You've been twisting the truth for so long, fallen one, he said, That you've actually begun to believe your own lies.

Ryuk rolled his eyes. "Phaw," he scoffed, dropping his hand. "I didn't really expect you to accept anyway. Was worth a try though." He grinned at the angel. "How about a bet then? Your human versus mine." He flicked a long finger at Jubilee once more, then another one at Light. "Her faith against his hunger for power. Which do you think will win out, oh mighty bright one?"

Hellenos said nothing.

"What, you don't want to make bets with a shinigami?" Ryuk cackled. "I swear, I'm very honorable when it comes to gambling. We don't even have to set any stakes, I'd just like the satisfaction of seeing the inevitable shortcoming of humankind win out like it always does, every single time. What do you say?"

Hellenos continued to give the shinigami an aloof and silent gaze, making his answer clear. Jubilee glanced between the two again, then at Light, who looked genuinely confused now. He couldn't hear or see Hellenos. Perhaps this was her chance.

"Light," she said, stepping forward. "Listen, you heard how that shinigami talked about you just now. He obviously doesn't have your best interests in mind, and this is not going to end well for you if you keep going. Please," she pleaded, reaching out a hand towards him, "You have to listen to me, and—"

Light held up a hand, stopping her. "Julie," he began quietly. "You need help."

Jubilee stopped and gaped at him for a moment. "What?"

He took her by the shoulders and looked her in the eye. "You're my friend, Julie, so I don't want to hurt your feelings—but, you need professional help."

She stared at him, unable to respond as the line over his head broke and showered them both with charcoal dust.

He continued, earnestly, "I know a place in Aoyama. Good place, good doctors. The head psychiatrist is friends with my dad. I could have him to talk to him for you, get you in for a low cost, maybe even on our insurance plan."

"Light," said Jubilee softly, finding her voice at last. "Please stop playing this game with me."

Light's eyes hardened. "I could say the same to you, Julie." He released her and stepped back. "Honestly, I'm getting tired of this. I've been nice to you, I've given you a chance to let up, but you won't back off. I don't know if your problem is that you're genuinely seeing and hearing things in your head, or that you're just a pathological liar who insists on making trouble for me and my family, but either way...there's a limit." His expression became cold then. "Keep this up, and I can and will take legal action against you." At these last words the line over his head stayed straight, emphasizing that his threat was real. "For your own sake, Julie, you need to get help, even if you can't see it. And if you can't—or won't—help yourself...then, as your friend, I have to do something about it. For your own good." He turned to go. "Think about what I've said. I've got to go find Misa now. If you've been talking like this around her too, it's no wonder she wants to get away from you." With that he walked away.

Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

Ryuk gave both her and Hellenos a gleeful grin before turning to trail after the boy, leaving the two of them alone.

She watched the boy and the demon go, her heart feeling shattered with grief. As she stared after Light, the black haze writhing around him, a memory of the former yellow haze suddenly displaced it in her mind's eye. The yellow lingered there in her perception for a second, like an echo, or perhaps some distant, faraway hope, before fading again. Jubilee felt her heart ache. Two things were now of the utmost importance to her. One was how to save L from Light. The other was how to save Light from himself.

But both tasks seemed impossible.

"Hellenos," she said after a long moment. "I—I'm glad you're here—and that I can see you again." Her fists clenched and her voice hitched as she continued, "I know I should—should look at the silver linings, and...and keep having faith, but—" She suddenly buried her face into her hands. "But right now, I just need a minute," she whispered between her fingers, then dropped to her knees and began to cry.

Hellenos said nothing, but lay a comforting hand on her shoulder as she wept and wept.

----------------------------------------

Several yards away from headquarters, Light ducked behind a tree and pulled out his cell phone, dialing a number. Ryuk hovered in the shadows beside him. Light shot him a glare as he held the phone up to his ear.

"You and I have some things to talk about," he said darkly. "But first—"

On the other end of the line, Misa picked up. "Light?"

"Misa," began Light, just barely disguising the irk in his voice. "What was all that about? Where did you go?"

"I—I'm sorry, Light, I went back home. My head really hurt and—"

Light heaved a heavy sigh. "Well, did you get Julie's name at least? I've been with her for the last ten minutes. You didn't write it down yet?"

There was a long pause on the other end of the line. "Light, I—I couldn't see her name."

Light pinched his nose in irritation. He knew there must have been something. Ideally he would have drawn out Julie's death if he was the one writing her name; maybe he would have had her check into a psych ward for a few weeks before offing herself. But he had had no time to discuss such ideas with Misa, and she was the impulsive kind. If she had been able to see the other girl's real name, then Julie should have dropped dead in front of him during the last ten minutes. He'd only tolerated her ranting and raving for that long because it would have looked good for her to die in front of him on the surveillance camera, further clearing him from being Kira.

"What do you mean, you couldn't see her name?" he said between grit teeth. "What did you see?"

Another pause transpired before Misa stuttered, "It was like...like a crest, of some kind, or—or—a seal! Yeah, it was like she was sealed, with the kind that old kings in the movies use on letters, you know? Except more...complicated. And bright. It was so bright, Light, I couldn't look at it...I couldn't see a name or lifespan anywhere around it, just this blinding seal of light. My head's been killing me ever since I saw it, and it's only now starting to get better."

"I see." Light turned to look at the shinigami next to him, who was grinning. "Fine. Get some rest. I'll call you later." He hung up amid Misa's protests and pocketed his phone. "You knew about this, didn't you?" he asked the shinigami calmly.

Ryuk's only response was a cackle.

"That's why you called her a marked one," Light continued, not bothering to mask his annoyance. "Why didn't you tell me from the beginning?"

"It was more fun this way," chuckled Ryuk.

Light gave him a venomous glare. "Alright, you've had your fun. Now explain to me what all this means."

"Oo, you know, you look scarier than me when you look like that," said Ryuk. "Alright, alright, I'll tell you." He seated himself cross-legged on the ground, then added with a grin, "But I'd like some apples in return, please."

Light crossed his arms. "Fine."

"So," began Ryuk, opening up his arms in dramatic fashion, "Every once in a blue moon, a human dies—but then comes back. Near death experiences, I think you people call them? Or after death experiences, technically. Anyway, the ones who catch a glimpse of heaven, but then come back to earth, get marked or 'sealed' by the Big Guy." He pointed a claw upwards at the last two words. "And after that, once they come back to life, they are off limits to shinigami. None of us can see their names or their lifespans anymore. Oh, and furthermore, if they initially died because a shinigami wrote their name into a Death Note, then the years that the shinigami would have gained are instead docked off of that shinigami's lifespan. It's not very fair if you ask me, but I'm not the one making the rules here."

"So you're saying that her name can't be written into a Death Note anymore?" asked Light.

"Well, I didn't say that," said Ryuk. "Just that I'm not allowed to write her name into a Death Note anymore."

Light uncrossed his arms and stood straighter. "But a human can?"

"Well, maybe!" laughed Ryuk. "That's never been a possibility before." He smirked at Light. "But how can he, if he can't find out her name?"

Light's eyes narrowed. "You know her name. You wrote it into your Death Note before she became off limits. And you said that her father's last name was Jenkins. I'm assuming that that's her last name, too."

"Wouldn't you like to know!" laughed the shinigami. "Bet that little tidbit got you all kinds of excited, didn't it?"

Light gave him a look. "I don't suppose you're going to tell me what her first name is, are you?"

Ryuk chortled. "What would be the fun in that? I've got a grudge against her, sure, but that doesn't mean I'm here to just make your life easier. I live a lot longer than you ants, and I can take my time in getting my revenge."

Light sighed and turned away from the demon. This made a slight hassle of things, but in the end it didn't change anything. Killing L was still the priority. Julie was a minor annoyance, but he could get her out of the way with or without the Death Note. After all, no one believed her anyway—except perhaps L. Which was why getting rid of him first was more important.

"Hey, Ryuk," said Light.

"Eh?"

"I don't have any plans on giving up the Death Note." He turned to face the demon again. "So you don't have to worry about carrying out all those threats against me that you were making to Julie." He smiled confidently and continued, "And I can promise you, Ryuk—you will have far more fun this way, if I get my way in the end."

Ryuk gave a long laugh at that. "Oh," he said, with a gleam in his yellow eyes, "I'm counting on it."