FicWad

Justin watched Ryuk and Rem fly off into the distance and disappear. So, the King knew everything now…this called for a serious change in plans. Justin sat and thought…what now? The King was now aware that there was a resistance movement-that was a serious blow to the number of options Justin had.
“Nu…,” he said, only to look up and find out that she’d disappeared. Of course.
Justin sighed…if he were the King, what would he be doing now? Ryuk and Rem were being taken care of…poor souls. He wished them luck. If he were the King…if he were the King, now he’d probably focus on killing everyone involved with the resistance. That wasn’t a one-shinigami job, though; he’d probably try and get help, like what he’d done with the hunters…
“No more prints, Daril. They went into this rocky place.”
Justin stiffened. That sounded like Sidoh, a little ways off. Nu was right…he’d been pressed into the King’s service. Did he dare…?
Carefully, noiselessly, Justin looked at the entrance to the tunnel, not daring to poke his head out, wondering if he’d be able to see the hunters…he could. They were standing on the edge of the rocks, discussing their next move.
“Do we get to use the knives if we find them?” Kinddara asked.
For the love of Death Notes! The King had given them knives?
“…If you can’t see any prints, then there aren’t any prints, Sidoh. You won’t miss them. Go.”
Sidoh shot off like a bullet; in the blink of an eye, the hunters were gone, disappearing in an instant. Well, then. Justin hated to admit it, but they were damned fast…and they had weapons to boot. Ryuk and Rem’s odds were not looking good. He probably wouldn’t be seeing them again…ever. Nevertheless, there was no point in dwelling on things that he couldn’t change. He had to concentrate on the task at hand; getting rid of the King, before he could kill anyone else. Two casualties were enough. The King was probably going to make his next move quickly…Justin had to get to the other shinigami, and fast. The trackers were otherwise occupied right now, and Nu had said nothing about anyone being after him-yet. Plus, time was of the essence…he probably could…
For the first time in hundreds of years, Justin spread his wings and flew out over the shinigami realm.

As he approached his chair, the one all the other shinigami insisted on calling his “throne,” he was struck by how quiet the skies were. Mere hours ago, shinigami had been flocking to his chair, inquiring about the rumours. When he got closer, he was aghast to see that several shinigami were missing. About a hundred were still crowded around his chair, standing silently, and every single one watched as Justin landed. If the nervousness and trepidation in the air had been any thicker, Justin would’ve been able to reach out and touch it. He scanned the crowd, but nothing jumped out at him as having gone wrong…everyone stared back at him, still silent, fearful…
“What happened? What’s wrong?” said Justin.
There were several beats of silence. Finally, shyly, Zellogi spoke up…
“The King summoned…well, everyone. He says everyone is supposed to come to him, immediately, no exceptions. He specifically mentioned you…he said you wouldn’t come, and he’d reward whoever brought you...”
“And Sidoh hasn’t come back. We haven’t seen him since…well,” said Gukku.
“Some shinigami took off right away, but we were waiting for you to get back, Justin…we don’t know what to do. What’s going on, you think?” asked Midora.
No…not already...
“I know exactly what’s going on. Everyone…I have bad news. I don’t know how she did it, but Nu followed Sidoh to the King’s tower and watched what happened-Sidoh told the King everything.”
Quiet murmurs escaped the crowd, some angry, many fearful…
“Right now, Sidoh is using his superior sight to track down Ryuk and Rem…that’s why the King summoned him, along with Daril Ghiroza and Kinddara Guivelostain. I saw all three of them after Ryuk and Rem started fleeing, and was obvious to me that the King knew what he was doing when he selected them…they’re fast, they’re good, and they’re probably going to succeed, and with Ryuk and Rem out of the picture, the King’s next logical step is obvious. He’s going to get rid of those who know what he’s up to and oppose him.”
The muttering of the crowd got louder, some shinigami started yelling, and quickly, before they could work themselves up into a frenzy, Justin shouted, “STAY CALM! Panicking won’t help! Everyone, calm down and listen up. The King is summoning everyone, because he wants to tell everyone the same story he told Sidoh, and get everyone on his side. He wants to tell you that he imprisoned Rem because she killed a shinigami named Gelus, and after that, he’ll likely get as many shinigami as possible to help him catch us.”
“We’re boned, aren’t we?” said Zellogi.
“No, we are not ‘boned’. I know of place where we can hide, and continue with our efforts to save ourselves. Anyone who still wants to stop the King can follow me, now.”
Zellogi stepped forward right away, and slowly, gradually, more shinigami started to follow. Gukku had taken a few steps when he noticed that Deridovely wasn’t next to him; he looked back, surprised to see that Deridovely hadn’t moved.
“Dude, aren’t you coming?”
“…I dunno…”
“Come on.”
“…Why?”
Several shinigami around them stopped, listening.
“Whaddya mean, ‘why?’ Don’t start up with this again, man…”
“Why shouldn’t I start up with it? It’s like I said! If I go with these guys, the King’s gonna be out to kill me! And it’s not gonna be just the King anymore, it’s gonna be a whole freakin’ mob!” Deridovely said, getting steadily louder. “It’s pointless! How the hell are we supposed to take down the King?! How, man?! How?! Ryuk and Rem are already as good as dead, and I’m sure as hell not gonna be next! This whole thing is just stupid!”
As he finished the last sentence, Deridovely realized that he’d been shouting…and every single shinigami was now looking directly at him.
“Stupid, is it?” said Justin, his tone unfathomable. As Deridovely’s outrage died, it was replaced by a squirming discomfort as he felt the eyes of all the shinigami on him.
“Well…yeah,” he shrugged, trying to look nonchalant. “The King’s going to kill you if you try and go against him. I don’t wanna die, is all.”
“Neither do I,” said Justin. “I understand where you’re coming from…yes; the prospect of immediate death is frightening. Yes, whoever opposes the King will be under threat of death very soon. But I’m going to try and get rid of him anyway. My logic is this: complying with the King and doing as he wishes will delay your day of death, but sooner or later, it will come, and there will be no stopping it. Trying to stop the King makes it more likely you will die soon; but it also makes it possible that you won’t have to die at all. It all comes down to personal choice, I suppose-if you’re that incredibly frightened, I suppose you’d want to delay death, even knowing that it will come eventually; rather than face it in the hopes that it can be avoided altogether.”
“Come off it, Justin. Everyone knows that you’re next, no matter what you do. Of course you’re gonna go straight for offing the old geezer…you’re only looking after your own ass. Don’t act like I’m a moron or a weenie for doing the same thing.”
“In what way does the fact that I’d like to avoid my own death change the fact that the King will kill everyone if he’s not stopped?”
“Don’t change the subject! And don’t tell me that you’d still be trying to off the old geezer if you weren’t gonna die soon anyway!”
“As I already told you, it wouldn’t change the fact that I’d die sooner or later, and I don’t want to die at all. Can you think of even one good reason why wouldn’t I try and stop him?”
Deridovely was both angry and flustered…who did Justin think he was, putting him on the spot like that? That just wasn’t fair…lousy, cheating…
“Fuck you, Justin.”
“I’m not forcing you, or anyone, to come with me; but you’re welcome to, if you choose.” With that, Justin turned around, spread his wings again, and took off. Zellogi and Midora were right behind him, and so were several other shinigami. Gukku gave Deridovely one exasperated look before he took off as well, making a point of not looking back.
They flew for a good long time, and when Justin touched down in a really dry, barren place with lots of weird rocks sticking up out of the ground, he pointed out the entrance to an underground tunnel.
“Head on in,” he said. “One at time, please; the opening’s not huge, and if we don’t want to be found, it should remain that way. Stay in the tunnel, don’t run off and explore when you get to the part where it starts branching. This is just one bit of a whole network of tunnels that stretches for miles; I don’t want anyone getting lost.”
“Wow…that’s kinda cool, eh, Der…huh?” said Gukku, finally turning back to look at Deridovely, only to discover that he wasn’t there.
“Deridovely?”
Gukku had thought he would’ve been following right behind…there was no way he could’ve…

As Deridovely sat and listened to the King, along with a few others who hadn’t gone after Justin, it struck him how accurate his predictions were so far. The King had told them all about how Rem had killed Gelus, faked her own death, been caught and escaped from the tower, and was now being hunted down by a set of highly skilled trackers that the King had trained himself. The King’s voice was hypnotic as he spoke…it kept building and building as he went on, getting more and more powerful, and the shinigami were listening intently, getting more and more into it as the King drew them in…
“…soon, Rem will be caught, and I will finally administer justice on her for all of you. But her malice did not stop with Gelus’ brutal murder…many of you have heard the horrid, blasphemous rumour she concocted to try and make you distrust me. After she escaped from my tower, she used the weapon she stole from me in a fit of self-mutilation, and she tried to convince those she met that her injuries were my doing; that I had tortured her for no good reason, and that they would be next.”
Roars of anger came from those who this was news to; and some from those who already knew, but were starting to be swayed by the King’s overpowering speaking voice…
“I am glad to see that so many of you did not fall for her malicious lies-that so many of you know quite rightly that I am your King; and therefore, I do whatever it takes to protect you. It saddens me to tell you that despite my centuries of care, some shinigami choose to believe that my intentions are less than pure. Rem has poisoned them against me; they are plotting my downfall and demise even as we speak! Tell me-will you allow them to succeed?”
“NO!” was the answer that came resounding through the crowd.
“Do you trust your King!?”
“YES!”
“Then together, we shall find the traitorous vermin who doubt me, and we shall bring justice upon them!”
The crowd around the King was hopelessly drawn in…that had always been, like, a freaky superpower of the King’s, being able to get all these lazy-ass shinigami all riled up…Deridovely surprised to find that he was kind of excited, too. He’d only come to the tower so he wouldn’t be put on the old geezer’s blacklist…but now, after listening to him…
“Go! Find those who did not come when summoned, and bring them here! Your King will do the rest!”
A cloud of shinigami rose into the air, a few hundred of them...a whole lot more than had followed Justin wherever. That was no surprise; even the dumbest shinigami had the number one rule of the realm practically engraved into their brains-King says; you do. Deridovely rose up too…he contemplated actually looking for them, but decided to just wander around, pretending. He’d still be on the old geezer’s good side that way…and even if Gukku was being a moron, Deridovely sure as hell wasn’t going to be the one to drag him off to get whacked. Stupid Gukku…he’d told him this would happen…why couldn’t he have just come to the tower? Even if Deridovely wasn’t searching, there were hundreds of other shinigami who would be…it was only a matter of time before Gukku got caught. Stupid…stupid…if only he’d listened…it was more obvious that ever, now, that going against the King would only get him killed.