Categories > Anime/Manga > Death Note > Shinigami: Death of the Old World
“Wow…” Fedor gasped as the tower came into sight. “That’s huge…is that where the King is, Dad?”
“Yes.”
“It’s…it’s really…well, more than ‘pretty’…” said Justin, struggling to find the correct word to describe it, the way it stood as a shining black beacon in the midst of the endless desert of white.
“Magnificent?”
“Yeah. Magnificent,” said Justin, trying the word out himself. “It’s the most magnificent thing ever.”
“Whoever built it must be a genius,” Fedor piped up.
Xithl smiled. “Your mother built that tower. I told her she was a genius when it was finished, but she never believed me…you boys be sure to tell her what you think of it when we get home, all right?”
“What?” gasped Fedor. “Mom…mom carved that whole tower, all by herself?”
Xithl laughed. “No, Fedor…it would’ve taken hundreds of years instead of tens to finish the tower if she’d carved it all herself. Your mother just designs buildings…everyone helped to carve it, under her supervision. The King’s tower isn’t just for housing the King, you know.”
“Yeah, Fedor,” said Justin. “Everyone works there, too…Mordra has her room for painting and drawing and stuff, Dr. Gamek has a room in there, and there’s this big one full of machine parts and tools and junk for Moloch…”
“Exactly, Justin,” said Xithl as he landed on top of the tower and started down the spiral staircase. “It’s also where your mother keeps the plans for modifying caves and rock piles she finds into suitable housing, that can withstand this cold…a lot of shinigami had to evacuate their homes because of it, and they’re living in some temporary quarters near the bottom of the tower…she also stuck a concert hall in here, for Shoboro. Hopefully, he’ll be able to actually use it some day, once we get this mess all sorted out…”
“So…what do you do, Dad?” Fedor asked.
“…Shoboro wasn’t expecting to become a King, so he trained in musical arts as opposed to political science or government. We’re in a bit of a crisis right now, so until we get a handle on all the problems this weather is causing, I’m helping him out with some of his decisions.”
As Xithl walked through the halls of the labyrinthine tower, lit and heated by innumerable burning torches, Justin and Fedor heard voices coming from nearly every room, mixed in with the sounds of paper rustling, cabinets squeaking as they were opened…they saw a flash of sparks and heard a mechanical whirring sound as Xithl briefly passed Moloch’s room…
“Hello, Sidoh,” Xithl said as he stopped.
“Hello,” the shinigami in front of him replied, quietly. Justin and Fedor gaped in awe…even the air around the shinigami felt ancient. His eyes, however, looked anything but ancient. They jumped out and hit the twins with their clearness and sharpness. This was the shinigami with super sensory perception; eyesight strong enough to take the wood of shenzu trees, see the minutest details of its grains, and place them perfectly to form death notes.
“Whoa…Old Sidoh…” Fedor whispered to Justin out of the corner of his mouth. “He’s thousands of years old, isn’t he?”
“Ah…this is your daughter? I don’t believe we’ve met…Nu, correct?” Xithl said, dropping his voice as he spoke to the small creature next to Old Sidoh who was covered in eyes. The creature made the smallest, breathiest of affirmative noises as it took a few shy steps back.
“Well, nice to meet you, Nu. Sidoh, I’m here to see Shoboro. Is he in the Golden Hall right now?”
“No,” said Old Sidoh. “He’s in his living quarters.”
“Thank you. I’d best let you continue on your way.”
Old Sidoh and the pillar of eyes walked off without another word, and Xithl headed up a flight of steep stairs to their left. “Not much further now,” he said. “Good thing…it would’ve been a pain to walk all the way down to the Hall…”
Justin and Fedor were surprised when they got to the top of the stairs. Unlike most of the other passages in this tower, this one ended in a stone door. “Shoboro?” Xithl called as he knocked on the door.
“Xithl? Come in,” said the voice on the other side. Xithl pushed the door open, and he walked into a smallish room with a fireplace burning a pile of shenzu logs, and shinigami sitting on a stone chair. He nudged Justin and Fedor, and they slid off his back onto the floor, hiding behind his legs.
“Don’t be shy,” Xithl said, pushing them forward. “Say hello.”
Justin and Fedor craned their necks to look up at the shinigami…was it possible that he was even taller than Dad? He wasn’t skeletal, but he did look as though he was made out of grey, bony, spiked plating. He had long hair that covered one of his eyes-the other eye had a purple downward slash over it…the male royal marking.
“Hello, your highness…,” Justin stammered. Fedor opened his mouth, but nothing came out.
The King smiled at them. “Please, none of that ‘your highness’ stuff,” he said. “Just call me Shoboro. I haven’t seen you two since you were babies…it’s a shame it’s been so long. You’ve both grown an awful lot.”
Justin and Fedor both sighed with relief.
“Yes, it really is a shame…they probably don’t even remember Micoran,” said Xithl. “Is he around, Shoboro?”
“Yeah, I’m around,” a small grey shinigami with the purple eye markings said as he came out of the one hallway that branched of the room. “What’s up, Dad?”
“Micoran, this is Justin and Fedor…they’re Xithl’s sons,” said Shoboro.
“Hi,” said Micoran.
“I have to talk with Xithl for a bit, Micoran. Can you entertain Justin and Fedor for a little while?”
“Sure. Come with me, you guys-I’ll show you something neat.”
With a nod from Xithl, Justin and Fedor followed Micoran back around the corner.
“How old are you guys?” Micoran asked.
“Ninety-six,” Justin and Fedor said at the same time.
“I’m a hundred and five,” Micoran said as he led them into another room. The only thing in it was a cushioned bowl, containing a translucent, purple, round object.
“What’s that?” Fedor asked.
“So, Shoboro…how’s the egg doing?”
“It’s healthy and developing well. It’s at the stage where its mother can sense things about it…Rhyinn says it’s a daughter.”
“Congratulations! So, how did things go while I was gone?”
“It’s a gong show as always, Xithl. Armonia found a few more likely spots, and she managed to finish carving out an unusually large cave, but there’s a dispute between two shinigami over who gets first rights to it. They both have large families that fit the capacity of the place exactly, they’ve both been living in the basement of the tower for the same number of years, and they came to me to ask for it at the exact same time…it nearly turned into a fight to the death. I had to step in and physically pull them apart. How on earth am I supposed to decide which one gets it?”
“If you ask me, Shoboro…you can’t give it to either of them. If you give it to one of them, the other will resent it, and it’ll create a conflict that will go on long after they both settle down into permanent homes. You’ll have to find an entirely different homeless family to bestow it on.”
“But I can’t blame them for getting desperate...out of all the families in the temporary shelter, they’ve been here the longest, and they have the largest families to try and cram into one room…if anyone deserves to get out of here, it’s them. Giving it to some other family when they both need it more just doesn’t seem fair…”
“It’s not really fair to give it to one and not the other, either…but what can you do? Sometimes, keeping the peace is the best we can hope for.”
Shoboro sighed. “I suppose you’re right. As usual.”
A knock came from the door, and two more shinigami entered, one cloaked, one uncloaked. Micoran, Justin and Fedor came running at the noise.
“Ah…Gamek, Rhyinn. Just in time,” said Xithl.
“Hi, Mom,” Micoran said to the female shinigami as she removed her cloak, revealing a crystalline white body edged with blue. She wasn’t quite clear, but it was easy to imagine that the rounded spikes that branched off her were made of spun glass. Her catlike eyes crinkled at the corners as she smiled at Micoran.
“Hello, Micoran. How’s your baby sister? Did you watch her for me while I was gone?”
“You bet.”
“Daril…I think I see two of your friends,” said the uncloaked male.
“Fedor! Dustin!” a small female shinigami said as she peeked over his shoulder.
“It’s ‘Justin’, Daril.”
“That’s what I said. Dustin.”
Daril’s father shrugged. “Sorry, Xithl…the skeletal ones usually have trouble with the ‘j’ sound. She should start saying it correctly once she’s in her seventies…”
Xithl shrugged. “No worries, Gamek.”
“You go play with the boys for a while, okay?” Gamek said as he set Daril down, and she toddled off toward them.
“Hi, Daril. You ready to learn how to play hangman?” Justin asked.
“Sure, Dustin.”
The four children disappeared back around the corner, and the light mood disappeared with them.
“Rhyinn…did you get out to the vents today? Is it getting any warmer?,” Shoboro asked, completely back to business.
Rhyinn shook her head. “If anything, it’s getting colder. If things keep going at this rate, we’ll hit absolute zero in a matter of weeks.”
Shoboro sighed. “That’s no good. That’s no good at all. Young shinigami can’t handle that…heck, even older shinigami get uncomfortable when it gets cold enough to freeze all the gasses right out of the air…has anyone else gotten hurt since last time, Gamek?”
“Just one. Mordra’s son…he wandered off outside while she wasn’t looking. When she found him, he’d frozen his hand right off.”
“Oh, no….which one?”
“The seventh one-Zellogi.”
Shoboro put a hand to his eyes, as though he’d just developed a migraine. “Poor little guy... is he going to be okay?”
“He’ll be fine. When Mordra brought him in to me, she took her youngest along too. They matched up fairly well, so I transplanted some hatchling growth factor from the little one into Zellogi’s stump…it seems to be growing back. Good thing he’s practically still a baby himself. Shinigami lose that sort of capacity for re-growth very early on…I doubt it would’ve been a full recovery if he were any older than thirty-five.”
“How did Gukku have that much hatchling growth factor left over? Isn’t he ten years old by now?”
“Actually, Gukku isn’t the youngest anymore. One of the eggs hatched just a week ago-it’s a male. They named him Deridovely.”
“Only one injury since last time…and it’s going to be a full recovery? We’ve been unusually lucky this…” Xithl was suddenly cut off when the door burst open, and a blue shinigami with bull-like horns and vivid red eyes walked in. Shoboro immediately switched from looking worried to unsettlingly expressionless as he and the blue shinigami stared each other down. Xithl, Gamek and Rhyinn stayed silent…the hatred between the two was almost visible, a string that ran between them as they glared at each other…
“Moloch,” said Shoboro, his tone measured.
“Shoboro,” Moloch replied, in the same politely veiled manner.
“I didn’t give you permission to seek me in my living quarters.”
“I don’t seek you out at all unless I have a good reason. I need a second death note.”
“Why?”
“I’m almost finished with the human world viewing holes, but I need to be on the side the information will come from while I work on transmission…in other words, I have to be in the human world for a few months, and I need to give a human a death note for that.”
Shoboro raised his one eyebrow. “What does your mate have to say about you being gone so long, Moloch? Do you expect her to take care of your children all by herself?”
“Arva doesn’t need my help. She’s a damn fine mother-she’s completely capable of taking care of Keichi and Dornes on her own for a while. I don’t just think of my own children, Shoboro. What about Xithl’s boys? You know how few twins survive to adulthood, sharing the usual lifespan between them. They’ll be dead in ten years if they don’t learn how to kill humans soon. If they could just go to a viewing hole instead of waiting for their parents to ferry them to the human world and back, how much more time could they spend practicing writing in their notes? It might make the difference between life and death. Unlike some others, I don’t think only of myself and my own family, Shoboro. I’m willing to sacrifice some of my time for the betterment of this realm.”
Shoboro bristled. “Good for you. I’m glad that you realize that.”
Moloch glowered back at him. “May I have a second note, or not? I know you have plenty. I saw Old Sidoh dropping some off mere minutes ago.”
Slowly, Shoboro reached behind his back and pulled out a blank death note. “You’re right. I do have plenty. Take it, and get out of here.”
Moloch didn’t look at the death note as he took it. He stared right back at Shoboro, daring him to look away first.
Suddenly, there was a crash, and Justin and Fedor rolled into the room, yelling as they clawed and kicked at each other. Micoran ran in after them, followed by Daril, toddling as fast as she could. “Dustin! Fedor! Cut it out!” she pleaded.
Shoboro and Moloch’s attention snapped toward the spectacle, and they watched Xithl pull his two sons apart and lift them into the air, one in each hand. They kept swinging at each other, ignoring their father as they yelled threats and insults.
“Stop it, you two! Calm down right now, or else!” he shouted over the racket they were making.
“IT’S FEDOR’S FAULT! HE WROTE IT IN MY DEATH NOTE!”
“SHUT UP, JUSTIN! YOU DO!”
“I DO NOT!”
“DO TOO!”
“QUIET!” Xithl roared. The twins fell silent with shock…they’d never heard their father yell before.
“Sorry about that, everyone,” he said. “It’s been a long day for them…they’re probably tired. I think it’s about time I took you two home.”
“Aww, but Dad…”
“Don’t ‘but Dad’ me. You know better than to start fights…in front of the king, too…”
“Whoa, Xithl…keep my job out of this. They’re boys, boys fight…it’s what they do. I understand,” said Shoboro.
“Yeah, Dad. Shoboro’s right. Fighting’s part of the fun…it’s what we do,” said Justin.
“I can tell when you two have had enough for one day. It’s time to go home.”
“…yes, I’d better go too…Daril’s mother is probably wondering where we are…” said Gamek, picking up the death note that the twins had dropped while they’d fought and handing it back to Xithl. Xithl flipped it open, looking at what Fedor had supposedly written…he rolled his eyes. It was another game of hangman- J_ST_ _ LOV_S DAR_L G_ _RO_A. Of course…typical boys.
“See you after I get them home, Shoboro,” Xithl said as he followed Gamek out the door.
“Moloch,” Shoboro said. Moloch had been heading out as well, but he paused in the doorway, not looking back. “I don’t want to see you in my living quarters again.”
“As I said before-I don’t seek you out unless I have a good reason.”
With that, Moloch was gone. Shoboro slumped over in his chair, rubbing at his temples as he let out a weary sigh.
“This King business is hell, Rhyinn…you ever get the feeling that even though you’re doing your best, your best just isn’t enough? Nobody was expecting this unnatural cold…there are so many homeless, and little ones are dying under my watch…Zellogi was one of the lucky ones…”
Rhyinn placed a hand on his shoulder. “You could be the greatest King in existence, but you still wouldn’t be able to change the weather or the number of caves, dear. Considering the circumstances, you’re doing better than many would in your situation. Times aren’t easy for anyone…you’re being too hard on yourself.”
“I know…it still doesn’t feel like I’m doing enough, though, somehow…it seems like Xithl has to help me with even the simplest of decisions…”
“None of the King’s decisions are simple-they impact too many shinigami for them to be simple. You need to stop feeling responsible for every single misfortune that every single shinigami in the realm endures, or you’re going to drive yourself insane.”
Shoboro laughed…Rhyinn could hear the irony in it. “Sometimes, I wonder if I was already insane, asking to be King…”
Rhyinn sighed. “It pains me to see you like this…you’ve been trying to hide it, but I know you aren’t happy. You don’t have to do this, Shoboro. We could use something uplifting, to help us take our minds off the difficulties, and you’re the only musician in the realm…we need your talents there, as well. Think about it.”
“I’d like nothing better, honey, but Xithl won’t agree to take over, so I’m going to have to wait until Micoran is old enough to take my place.”
“You’re willing to wait another three hundred years for him to grow up?”
“If there are no descendants of the First King of the First Realm willing or able to serve as ruler, then someone willing to take over as King is chosen by the rest of the shinigami…and there’s only one who’d be willing to take over right now…that’s the only reason I asked for this job in the first place.”
“Oh, stop it, Shoboro! Why is it such a big deal if Moloch becomes King? Just because you can’t let go of a grudge…”
“I’m perfectly capable of letting go of a grudge, Rhyinn. It’s Moloch who doesn’t seem to be capable…”
“I said enough! You’re King and you hate it, Moloch would be more than happy to take over…why are you being so hard-headed!?”
“I’m not being hard-headed!”
“Yes, you are!”
“No, I’m not!”
“You’re not, are you?! Then what are you being?!”
“Fine! Do you really want to know, Rhyinn?!”
“Yes, I do!”
“He scares me, okay?!”
The sarcastic retort Rhyinn had prepared died in her throat.
“There. I admit it. Sure, I don’t like the guy, but there are a few shinigami I don’t like, and I’d be willing to let them take over as King if they had the brains for it. Moloch, though…he downright gives me the creeps. Can’t you feel it, Rhyinn, whenever you talk to him? Something’s just not right about that guy. He can be standing right in front of you, but he’s not really with you…you can see it in his eyes. His mind is somewhere else, and you don’t know where…but you don’t want to know, because wherever it is, it isn’t good. I know you think that there’s good in everyone, Rhyinn, and I respect that, but be honest with yourself for a minute. What kind of feeling do you get whenever Moloch walks into the room? What does your gut say about him?”
Rhyinn was silent for a long time. She looked over at Micoran, who had dragged his un-hatched baby sister into the room and fallen asleep with his head on the cushioned bowl that held her.
“…there is…something unsettling about him,” she whispered, finally admitting it.
“He’s up to something,” said Shoboro. “I just wonder what it is…”
“Yes.”
“It’s…it’s really…well, more than ‘pretty’…” said Justin, struggling to find the correct word to describe it, the way it stood as a shining black beacon in the midst of the endless desert of white.
“Magnificent?”
“Yeah. Magnificent,” said Justin, trying the word out himself. “It’s the most magnificent thing ever.”
“Whoever built it must be a genius,” Fedor piped up.
Xithl smiled. “Your mother built that tower. I told her she was a genius when it was finished, but she never believed me…you boys be sure to tell her what you think of it when we get home, all right?”
“What?” gasped Fedor. “Mom…mom carved that whole tower, all by herself?”
Xithl laughed. “No, Fedor…it would’ve taken hundreds of years instead of tens to finish the tower if she’d carved it all herself. Your mother just designs buildings…everyone helped to carve it, under her supervision. The King’s tower isn’t just for housing the King, you know.”
“Yeah, Fedor,” said Justin. “Everyone works there, too…Mordra has her room for painting and drawing and stuff, Dr. Gamek has a room in there, and there’s this big one full of machine parts and tools and junk for Moloch…”
“Exactly, Justin,” said Xithl as he landed on top of the tower and started down the spiral staircase. “It’s also where your mother keeps the plans for modifying caves and rock piles she finds into suitable housing, that can withstand this cold…a lot of shinigami had to evacuate their homes because of it, and they’re living in some temporary quarters near the bottom of the tower…she also stuck a concert hall in here, for Shoboro. Hopefully, he’ll be able to actually use it some day, once we get this mess all sorted out…”
“So…what do you do, Dad?” Fedor asked.
“…Shoboro wasn’t expecting to become a King, so he trained in musical arts as opposed to political science or government. We’re in a bit of a crisis right now, so until we get a handle on all the problems this weather is causing, I’m helping him out with some of his decisions.”
As Xithl walked through the halls of the labyrinthine tower, lit and heated by innumerable burning torches, Justin and Fedor heard voices coming from nearly every room, mixed in with the sounds of paper rustling, cabinets squeaking as they were opened…they saw a flash of sparks and heard a mechanical whirring sound as Xithl briefly passed Moloch’s room…
“Hello, Sidoh,” Xithl said as he stopped.
“Hello,” the shinigami in front of him replied, quietly. Justin and Fedor gaped in awe…even the air around the shinigami felt ancient. His eyes, however, looked anything but ancient. They jumped out and hit the twins with their clearness and sharpness. This was the shinigami with super sensory perception; eyesight strong enough to take the wood of shenzu trees, see the minutest details of its grains, and place them perfectly to form death notes.
“Whoa…Old Sidoh…” Fedor whispered to Justin out of the corner of his mouth. “He’s thousands of years old, isn’t he?”
“Ah…this is your daughter? I don’t believe we’ve met…Nu, correct?” Xithl said, dropping his voice as he spoke to the small creature next to Old Sidoh who was covered in eyes. The creature made the smallest, breathiest of affirmative noises as it took a few shy steps back.
“Well, nice to meet you, Nu. Sidoh, I’m here to see Shoboro. Is he in the Golden Hall right now?”
“No,” said Old Sidoh. “He’s in his living quarters.”
“Thank you. I’d best let you continue on your way.”
Old Sidoh and the pillar of eyes walked off without another word, and Xithl headed up a flight of steep stairs to their left. “Not much further now,” he said. “Good thing…it would’ve been a pain to walk all the way down to the Hall…”
Justin and Fedor were surprised when they got to the top of the stairs. Unlike most of the other passages in this tower, this one ended in a stone door. “Shoboro?” Xithl called as he knocked on the door.
“Xithl? Come in,” said the voice on the other side. Xithl pushed the door open, and he walked into a smallish room with a fireplace burning a pile of shenzu logs, and shinigami sitting on a stone chair. He nudged Justin and Fedor, and they slid off his back onto the floor, hiding behind his legs.
“Don’t be shy,” Xithl said, pushing them forward. “Say hello.”
Justin and Fedor craned their necks to look up at the shinigami…was it possible that he was even taller than Dad? He wasn’t skeletal, but he did look as though he was made out of grey, bony, spiked plating. He had long hair that covered one of his eyes-the other eye had a purple downward slash over it…the male royal marking.
“Hello, your highness…,” Justin stammered. Fedor opened his mouth, but nothing came out.
The King smiled at them. “Please, none of that ‘your highness’ stuff,” he said. “Just call me Shoboro. I haven’t seen you two since you were babies…it’s a shame it’s been so long. You’ve both grown an awful lot.”
Justin and Fedor both sighed with relief.
“Yes, it really is a shame…they probably don’t even remember Micoran,” said Xithl. “Is he around, Shoboro?”
“Yeah, I’m around,” a small grey shinigami with the purple eye markings said as he came out of the one hallway that branched of the room. “What’s up, Dad?”
“Micoran, this is Justin and Fedor…they’re Xithl’s sons,” said Shoboro.
“Hi,” said Micoran.
“I have to talk with Xithl for a bit, Micoran. Can you entertain Justin and Fedor for a little while?”
“Sure. Come with me, you guys-I’ll show you something neat.”
With a nod from Xithl, Justin and Fedor followed Micoran back around the corner.
“How old are you guys?” Micoran asked.
“Ninety-six,” Justin and Fedor said at the same time.
“I’m a hundred and five,” Micoran said as he led them into another room. The only thing in it was a cushioned bowl, containing a translucent, purple, round object.
“What’s that?” Fedor asked.
“So, Shoboro…how’s the egg doing?”
“It’s healthy and developing well. It’s at the stage where its mother can sense things about it…Rhyinn says it’s a daughter.”
“Congratulations! So, how did things go while I was gone?”
“It’s a gong show as always, Xithl. Armonia found a few more likely spots, and she managed to finish carving out an unusually large cave, but there’s a dispute between two shinigami over who gets first rights to it. They both have large families that fit the capacity of the place exactly, they’ve both been living in the basement of the tower for the same number of years, and they came to me to ask for it at the exact same time…it nearly turned into a fight to the death. I had to step in and physically pull them apart. How on earth am I supposed to decide which one gets it?”
“If you ask me, Shoboro…you can’t give it to either of them. If you give it to one of them, the other will resent it, and it’ll create a conflict that will go on long after they both settle down into permanent homes. You’ll have to find an entirely different homeless family to bestow it on.”
“But I can’t blame them for getting desperate...out of all the families in the temporary shelter, they’ve been here the longest, and they have the largest families to try and cram into one room…if anyone deserves to get out of here, it’s them. Giving it to some other family when they both need it more just doesn’t seem fair…”
“It’s not really fair to give it to one and not the other, either…but what can you do? Sometimes, keeping the peace is the best we can hope for.”
Shoboro sighed. “I suppose you’re right. As usual.”
A knock came from the door, and two more shinigami entered, one cloaked, one uncloaked. Micoran, Justin and Fedor came running at the noise.
“Ah…Gamek, Rhyinn. Just in time,” said Xithl.
“Hi, Mom,” Micoran said to the female shinigami as she removed her cloak, revealing a crystalline white body edged with blue. She wasn’t quite clear, but it was easy to imagine that the rounded spikes that branched off her were made of spun glass. Her catlike eyes crinkled at the corners as she smiled at Micoran.
“Hello, Micoran. How’s your baby sister? Did you watch her for me while I was gone?”
“You bet.”
“Daril…I think I see two of your friends,” said the uncloaked male.
“Fedor! Dustin!” a small female shinigami said as she peeked over his shoulder.
“It’s ‘Justin’, Daril.”
“That’s what I said. Dustin.”
Daril’s father shrugged. “Sorry, Xithl…the skeletal ones usually have trouble with the ‘j’ sound. She should start saying it correctly once she’s in her seventies…”
Xithl shrugged. “No worries, Gamek.”
“You go play with the boys for a while, okay?” Gamek said as he set Daril down, and she toddled off toward them.
“Hi, Daril. You ready to learn how to play hangman?” Justin asked.
“Sure, Dustin.”
The four children disappeared back around the corner, and the light mood disappeared with them.
“Rhyinn…did you get out to the vents today? Is it getting any warmer?,” Shoboro asked, completely back to business.
Rhyinn shook her head. “If anything, it’s getting colder. If things keep going at this rate, we’ll hit absolute zero in a matter of weeks.”
Shoboro sighed. “That’s no good. That’s no good at all. Young shinigami can’t handle that…heck, even older shinigami get uncomfortable when it gets cold enough to freeze all the gasses right out of the air…has anyone else gotten hurt since last time, Gamek?”
“Just one. Mordra’s son…he wandered off outside while she wasn’t looking. When she found him, he’d frozen his hand right off.”
“Oh, no….which one?”
“The seventh one-Zellogi.”
Shoboro put a hand to his eyes, as though he’d just developed a migraine. “Poor little guy... is he going to be okay?”
“He’ll be fine. When Mordra brought him in to me, she took her youngest along too. They matched up fairly well, so I transplanted some hatchling growth factor from the little one into Zellogi’s stump…it seems to be growing back. Good thing he’s practically still a baby himself. Shinigami lose that sort of capacity for re-growth very early on…I doubt it would’ve been a full recovery if he were any older than thirty-five.”
“How did Gukku have that much hatchling growth factor left over? Isn’t he ten years old by now?”
“Actually, Gukku isn’t the youngest anymore. One of the eggs hatched just a week ago-it’s a male. They named him Deridovely.”
“Only one injury since last time…and it’s going to be a full recovery? We’ve been unusually lucky this…” Xithl was suddenly cut off when the door burst open, and a blue shinigami with bull-like horns and vivid red eyes walked in. Shoboro immediately switched from looking worried to unsettlingly expressionless as he and the blue shinigami stared each other down. Xithl, Gamek and Rhyinn stayed silent…the hatred between the two was almost visible, a string that ran between them as they glared at each other…
“Moloch,” said Shoboro, his tone measured.
“Shoboro,” Moloch replied, in the same politely veiled manner.
“I didn’t give you permission to seek me in my living quarters.”
“I don’t seek you out at all unless I have a good reason. I need a second death note.”
“Why?”
“I’m almost finished with the human world viewing holes, but I need to be on the side the information will come from while I work on transmission…in other words, I have to be in the human world for a few months, and I need to give a human a death note for that.”
Shoboro raised his one eyebrow. “What does your mate have to say about you being gone so long, Moloch? Do you expect her to take care of your children all by herself?”
“Arva doesn’t need my help. She’s a damn fine mother-she’s completely capable of taking care of Keichi and Dornes on her own for a while. I don’t just think of my own children, Shoboro. What about Xithl’s boys? You know how few twins survive to adulthood, sharing the usual lifespan between them. They’ll be dead in ten years if they don’t learn how to kill humans soon. If they could just go to a viewing hole instead of waiting for their parents to ferry them to the human world and back, how much more time could they spend practicing writing in their notes? It might make the difference between life and death. Unlike some others, I don’t think only of myself and my own family, Shoboro. I’m willing to sacrifice some of my time for the betterment of this realm.”
Shoboro bristled. “Good for you. I’m glad that you realize that.”
Moloch glowered back at him. “May I have a second note, or not? I know you have plenty. I saw Old Sidoh dropping some off mere minutes ago.”
Slowly, Shoboro reached behind his back and pulled out a blank death note. “You’re right. I do have plenty. Take it, and get out of here.”
Moloch didn’t look at the death note as he took it. He stared right back at Shoboro, daring him to look away first.
Suddenly, there was a crash, and Justin and Fedor rolled into the room, yelling as they clawed and kicked at each other. Micoran ran in after them, followed by Daril, toddling as fast as she could. “Dustin! Fedor! Cut it out!” she pleaded.
Shoboro and Moloch’s attention snapped toward the spectacle, and they watched Xithl pull his two sons apart and lift them into the air, one in each hand. They kept swinging at each other, ignoring their father as they yelled threats and insults.
“Stop it, you two! Calm down right now, or else!” he shouted over the racket they were making.
“IT’S FEDOR’S FAULT! HE WROTE IT IN MY DEATH NOTE!”
“SHUT UP, JUSTIN! YOU DO!”
“I DO NOT!”
“DO TOO!”
“QUIET!” Xithl roared. The twins fell silent with shock…they’d never heard their father yell before.
“Sorry about that, everyone,” he said. “It’s been a long day for them…they’re probably tired. I think it’s about time I took you two home.”
“Aww, but Dad…”
“Don’t ‘but Dad’ me. You know better than to start fights…in front of the king, too…”
“Whoa, Xithl…keep my job out of this. They’re boys, boys fight…it’s what they do. I understand,” said Shoboro.
“Yeah, Dad. Shoboro’s right. Fighting’s part of the fun…it’s what we do,” said Justin.
“I can tell when you two have had enough for one day. It’s time to go home.”
“…yes, I’d better go too…Daril’s mother is probably wondering where we are…” said Gamek, picking up the death note that the twins had dropped while they’d fought and handing it back to Xithl. Xithl flipped it open, looking at what Fedor had supposedly written…he rolled his eyes. It was another game of hangman- J_ST_ _ LOV_S DAR_L G_ _RO_A. Of course…typical boys.
“See you after I get them home, Shoboro,” Xithl said as he followed Gamek out the door.
“Moloch,” Shoboro said. Moloch had been heading out as well, but he paused in the doorway, not looking back. “I don’t want to see you in my living quarters again.”
“As I said before-I don’t seek you out unless I have a good reason.”
With that, Moloch was gone. Shoboro slumped over in his chair, rubbing at his temples as he let out a weary sigh.
“This King business is hell, Rhyinn…you ever get the feeling that even though you’re doing your best, your best just isn’t enough? Nobody was expecting this unnatural cold…there are so many homeless, and little ones are dying under my watch…Zellogi was one of the lucky ones…”
Rhyinn placed a hand on his shoulder. “You could be the greatest King in existence, but you still wouldn’t be able to change the weather or the number of caves, dear. Considering the circumstances, you’re doing better than many would in your situation. Times aren’t easy for anyone…you’re being too hard on yourself.”
“I know…it still doesn’t feel like I’m doing enough, though, somehow…it seems like Xithl has to help me with even the simplest of decisions…”
“None of the King’s decisions are simple-they impact too many shinigami for them to be simple. You need to stop feeling responsible for every single misfortune that every single shinigami in the realm endures, or you’re going to drive yourself insane.”
Shoboro laughed…Rhyinn could hear the irony in it. “Sometimes, I wonder if I was already insane, asking to be King…”
Rhyinn sighed. “It pains me to see you like this…you’ve been trying to hide it, but I know you aren’t happy. You don’t have to do this, Shoboro. We could use something uplifting, to help us take our minds off the difficulties, and you’re the only musician in the realm…we need your talents there, as well. Think about it.”
“I’d like nothing better, honey, but Xithl won’t agree to take over, so I’m going to have to wait until Micoran is old enough to take my place.”
“You’re willing to wait another three hundred years for him to grow up?”
“If there are no descendants of the First King of the First Realm willing or able to serve as ruler, then someone willing to take over as King is chosen by the rest of the shinigami…and there’s only one who’d be willing to take over right now…that’s the only reason I asked for this job in the first place.”
“Oh, stop it, Shoboro! Why is it such a big deal if Moloch becomes King? Just because you can’t let go of a grudge…”
“I’m perfectly capable of letting go of a grudge, Rhyinn. It’s Moloch who doesn’t seem to be capable…”
“I said enough! You’re King and you hate it, Moloch would be more than happy to take over…why are you being so hard-headed!?”
“I’m not being hard-headed!”
“Yes, you are!”
“No, I’m not!”
“You’re not, are you?! Then what are you being?!”
“Fine! Do you really want to know, Rhyinn?!”
“Yes, I do!”
“He scares me, okay?!”
The sarcastic retort Rhyinn had prepared died in her throat.
“There. I admit it. Sure, I don’t like the guy, but there are a few shinigami I don’t like, and I’d be willing to let them take over as King if they had the brains for it. Moloch, though…he downright gives me the creeps. Can’t you feel it, Rhyinn, whenever you talk to him? Something’s just not right about that guy. He can be standing right in front of you, but he’s not really with you…you can see it in his eyes. His mind is somewhere else, and you don’t know where…but you don’t want to know, because wherever it is, it isn’t good. I know you think that there’s good in everyone, Rhyinn, and I respect that, but be honest with yourself for a minute. What kind of feeling do you get whenever Moloch walks into the room? What does your gut say about him?”
Rhyinn was silent for a long time. She looked over at Micoran, who had dragged his un-hatched baby sister into the room and fallen asleep with his head on the cushioned bowl that held her.
“…there is…something unsettling about him,” she whispered, finally admitting it.
“He’s up to something,” said Shoboro. “I just wonder what it is…”
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