Categories > Anime/Manga > Death Note > Shinigami: Death of the Old World
Arva didn’t get far before Moloch grabbed her by the wrist, almost pulling her off her feet.
“LET GO OF ME!” she screamed.
“CALM DOWN, ARVA!”
“LET ME GO!”
“I SAID, CALM DOWN! STOP IT!”
She just kept screaming like she was crazy…her high-pitched shrieks sliced through his ears…he had to get her to stop, or else…
“SHUT UP! I…TOLD…YOU…TO CALM DOWN!” he roared as he threw her down onto the stairs…
No. No. It couldn’t be. He hadn’t meant to do it…he’d just wanted her to calm down, make her listen to reason…
She’d just kept screaming at him, telling him to go away, that he was a monster…she’d tried to fight him off, and he’d had to fight back…he hadn’t meant to…the screaming had been like glass shards in his brain…all his thoughts had blurred together until their single overwhelming message was to make her stop, he must make her stop…scythes were good at stopping things, but he hadn’t been thinking past what would happen if he…
He’d never even heard so much as a grumble out of her before. The incessant shrieking…he couldn’t deal with it, he had no experience with it...it wouldn’t let him think more than two seconds ahead. If only she’d just calmed down, like he told her to…
Moloch crouched at the foot of the stairs, watching sand drip off the end of his scythe onto the fourth pile on the floor. Maybe it would’ve been better if he’d told her about his plan beforehand…she’d had no idea what he’d been doing, none whatsoever…nothing about being King and Queen, nothing about the drastic measures he’d have to take to get there…all he’d told her was that he was working on a “surprise.” Killing another shinigami was a bit of a concept to get used to. Yes, she probably would have been shocked at first, but she would have grown to accept it…
Then again, maybe she wouldn’t have. Maybe she would have reacted the same way, no matter when she learned…the way she had reacted so strongly, just now…even though it had been for such a good cause…she was his mate. For her to act with such unexpected revulsion…maybe…it was as though she’d thought that killing another shinigami was something she couldn’t forgive him for. Shoboro was forever going on about how he refused to implement a death penalty, because “no crime merits the killing of a fellow shinigami”…perhaps, she had thought the same way?
Quickly, he pushed that out of his mind, before he could think of it any further. It scared him; how that thought rang through his mind like a bell… “ring of truth”…he quickly forced that out of his mind as well. No. Arva had been completely devoted. She’d simply overreacted because she’d seen it before he’d had a chance to explain; before she’d had time to wrap her mind around such a revolutionary concept.
It wasn’t supposed to happen this way. He wasn’t supposed to lose anything in this plan…Shoboro was supposed to be the one who lost everything. If Moloch had just been made King in the first place...
Shoboro would pay for this. And even though it tore at his soul to think it, the way Arva had been acting…the way she’d refused to calm down…if she had truly taken the children and left, she would’ve had no choice but to side with Shoboro. Either you were on Shoboro’s side, or you were on his; and if she was no longer on his side… Truthfully, he’d rather she were dead, than have that happen. But what to do now? How was he supposed to explain this away? They would wonder where Arva had gone, the others…everything was going wrong. If only building a kingship was like designing something like a viewing hole…if it got to the point where he was completely lost and nothing was working, he could always start over from scratch. That was how he felt now…if even Arva, his mate, was capable of betraying him like this, how could he ever hope to rule over the shinigami in this realm as the King, the almighty, the all-powerful, with boundless devotion…?
…Start over from scratch. Start over from scratch. The wheels in Moloch’s head were turning. Could you start over from scratch, with an entire ream? Moloch laughed bitterly…only if everyone’s minds could be erased and moulded, to regard him as the being with infinite power and wisdom…if only everyone could have their memories erased, and filled with whatever he chose to put in their minds…
Moloch suddenly sat up straight. Minds that were still bendable, whose memories were still unformed, whom he could tailor in whatever way he wished…young minds. Children under one hundred years old…brilliant. At that age, young shinigami had barely learned to walk and talk, and hadn’t had time to form opinions…a prime age to shape their sense of how the world worked. Besides, the shinigami who could remember fragments of their toddler years were few and far between, and the memories would be so blurry that they’d be easy to discount. The influence one could have over a child under a hundred years old was infinite…he could create an entire realm of beings who knew nothing but loyalty and veneration of a King…
Moloch smiled at the thought. The wheels in his head were spinning so fast he could almost hear them…he sat long after all the sand dripped off his scythe, working out every last detail, planning for every possible circumstance…
Finally, he stood up. He wiped at his eye…moisture was in it. He’d have no choice, especially with Arva gone…she’d proved that unless minds were controlled right from the start, no amount of perceived loyalty could truly be trusted, and no one could truly be controlled. It saddened him to the very depths of his soul, what Shoboro was forcing him to give up…
If he was going to start over, with nothing but subjects he could mould to his specifics, he’d obviously have to get rid of the ones whose minds were set and hardened. The easiest way, with a minimum of pain for everyone involved, was to do it now. The young ones didn’t need to live with the pain of the knowledge of what happened to their mother, even for a second.
So far as Moloch was concerned, bloodline meant nothing. It was the foolishness of holding bloodline as a factor of worthiness that had started this long mistake of Shoboro’s rule. The only reason Shoboro was King was because of his bloodline. Bloodline was worthless, the most pitiful excuse imaginable for favouring someone. To him, it was as good as dirt. No matter what, he would never go back on that opinion…no matter what it cost him.
Facts were facts. To start over, he’d need a realm populated only by those under one hundred. Dornes was one hundred and forty, and Keichi had turned two hundred a few years ago…he wiped again at the moisture in his eyes. Bloodline was no excuse for special treatment…it couldn’t be avoided just because they were his own children. Besides, the pain they’d feel if they learned what had happened to their mother…at least he could spare them that.
He took the stairs back up one by one, as slowly as he could…he didn’t have to rush it, but he couldn’t allow himself to stop. In order to gain, something must be lost…and for great gains, great losses must be sustained…
He pushed the door open. Dornes was standing right in the middle of the room, and Keichi, in the corner that curved around into the hallway…they stood perfectly still, staring straight up at him. He could tell that they hadn’t moved or said a word for quite a while.
“…Dad?” said Dornes, barely able to choke out a sound. “What’s happening down there? What’s…going on?”
Moloch sighed. “Don’t be scared, Dornes. It’s all right. Everything’s going to be fine…both of you, come here.”
Dornes came walking over instantly, but Keichi stayed put. She looked just as confused and scared as her brother, but something else coloured her expression, as well…something her mother and brother lacked. In her eyes were the faintest hints of suspicion. She was a smart girl, that Keichi…she was a lot like him, in that way. Poor, motherless Keichi…poor, poor children…
“Dad…where’s mom? What’s happening?” said Dornes, his voice wobbling. Moloch bent down and hugged his son one final time, scythe still in hand…he had to fight to keep the wobble out of his voice.
“I’m sorry, you two…I swear, I will make Shoboro pay for causing it to come to this…
Keichi ran screaming down the hall as when she realized what was happening…but it was a dead end, and she’d have no way to escape when it was her turn. If only she’d come when asked…the amount of fear she must be feeling could only be excruciatingly painful, and he would’ve preferred it to be quick, before she even realized what was going on, like he’d been able to do for Dornes. It was painful enough as it was…
“LET GO OF ME!” she screamed.
“CALM DOWN, ARVA!”
“LET ME GO!”
“I SAID, CALM DOWN! STOP IT!”
She just kept screaming like she was crazy…her high-pitched shrieks sliced through his ears…he had to get her to stop, or else…
“SHUT UP! I…TOLD…YOU…TO CALM DOWN!” he roared as he threw her down onto the stairs…
No. No. It couldn’t be. He hadn’t meant to do it…he’d just wanted her to calm down, make her listen to reason…
She’d just kept screaming at him, telling him to go away, that he was a monster…she’d tried to fight him off, and he’d had to fight back…he hadn’t meant to…the screaming had been like glass shards in his brain…all his thoughts had blurred together until their single overwhelming message was to make her stop, he must make her stop…scythes were good at stopping things, but he hadn’t been thinking past what would happen if he…
He’d never even heard so much as a grumble out of her before. The incessant shrieking…he couldn’t deal with it, he had no experience with it...it wouldn’t let him think more than two seconds ahead. If only she’d just calmed down, like he told her to…
Moloch crouched at the foot of the stairs, watching sand drip off the end of his scythe onto the fourth pile on the floor. Maybe it would’ve been better if he’d told her about his plan beforehand…she’d had no idea what he’d been doing, none whatsoever…nothing about being King and Queen, nothing about the drastic measures he’d have to take to get there…all he’d told her was that he was working on a “surprise.” Killing another shinigami was a bit of a concept to get used to. Yes, she probably would have been shocked at first, but she would have grown to accept it…
Then again, maybe she wouldn’t have. Maybe she would have reacted the same way, no matter when she learned…the way she had reacted so strongly, just now…even though it had been for such a good cause…she was his mate. For her to act with such unexpected revulsion…maybe…it was as though she’d thought that killing another shinigami was something she couldn’t forgive him for. Shoboro was forever going on about how he refused to implement a death penalty, because “no crime merits the killing of a fellow shinigami”…perhaps, she had thought the same way?
Quickly, he pushed that out of his mind, before he could think of it any further. It scared him; how that thought rang through his mind like a bell… “ring of truth”…he quickly forced that out of his mind as well. No. Arva had been completely devoted. She’d simply overreacted because she’d seen it before he’d had a chance to explain; before she’d had time to wrap her mind around such a revolutionary concept.
It wasn’t supposed to happen this way. He wasn’t supposed to lose anything in this plan…Shoboro was supposed to be the one who lost everything. If Moloch had just been made King in the first place...
Shoboro would pay for this. And even though it tore at his soul to think it, the way Arva had been acting…the way she’d refused to calm down…if she had truly taken the children and left, she would’ve had no choice but to side with Shoboro. Either you were on Shoboro’s side, or you were on his; and if she was no longer on his side… Truthfully, he’d rather she were dead, than have that happen. But what to do now? How was he supposed to explain this away? They would wonder where Arva had gone, the others…everything was going wrong. If only building a kingship was like designing something like a viewing hole…if it got to the point where he was completely lost and nothing was working, he could always start over from scratch. That was how he felt now…if even Arva, his mate, was capable of betraying him like this, how could he ever hope to rule over the shinigami in this realm as the King, the almighty, the all-powerful, with boundless devotion…?
…Start over from scratch. Start over from scratch. The wheels in Moloch’s head were turning. Could you start over from scratch, with an entire ream? Moloch laughed bitterly…only if everyone’s minds could be erased and moulded, to regard him as the being with infinite power and wisdom…if only everyone could have their memories erased, and filled with whatever he chose to put in their minds…
Moloch suddenly sat up straight. Minds that were still bendable, whose memories were still unformed, whom he could tailor in whatever way he wished…young minds. Children under one hundred years old…brilliant. At that age, young shinigami had barely learned to walk and talk, and hadn’t had time to form opinions…a prime age to shape their sense of how the world worked. Besides, the shinigami who could remember fragments of their toddler years were few and far between, and the memories would be so blurry that they’d be easy to discount. The influence one could have over a child under a hundred years old was infinite…he could create an entire realm of beings who knew nothing but loyalty and veneration of a King…
Moloch smiled at the thought. The wheels in his head were spinning so fast he could almost hear them…he sat long after all the sand dripped off his scythe, working out every last detail, planning for every possible circumstance…
Finally, he stood up. He wiped at his eye…moisture was in it. He’d have no choice, especially with Arva gone…she’d proved that unless minds were controlled right from the start, no amount of perceived loyalty could truly be trusted, and no one could truly be controlled. It saddened him to the very depths of his soul, what Shoboro was forcing him to give up…
If he was going to start over, with nothing but subjects he could mould to his specifics, he’d obviously have to get rid of the ones whose minds were set and hardened. The easiest way, with a minimum of pain for everyone involved, was to do it now. The young ones didn’t need to live with the pain of the knowledge of what happened to their mother, even for a second.
So far as Moloch was concerned, bloodline meant nothing. It was the foolishness of holding bloodline as a factor of worthiness that had started this long mistake of Shoboro’s rule. The only reason Shoboro was King was because of his bloodline. Bloodline was worthless, the most pitiful excuse imaginable for favouring someone. To him, it was as good as dirt. No matter what, he would never go back on that opinion…no matter what it cost him.
Facts were facts. To start over, he’d need a realm populated only by those under one hundred. Dornes was one hundred and forty, and Keichi had turned two hundred a few years ago…he wiped again at the moisture in his eyes. Bloodline was no excuse for special treatment…it couldn’t be avoided just because they were his own children. Besides, the pain they’d feel if they learned what had happened to their mother…at least he could spare them that.
He took the stairs back up one by one, as slowly as he could…he didn’t have to rush it, but he couldn’t allow himself to stop. In order to gain, something must be lost…and for great gains, great losses must be sustained…
He pushed the door open. Dornes was standing right in the middle of the room, and Keichi, in the corner that curved around into the hallway…they stood perfectly still, staring straight up at him. He could tell that they hadn’t moved or said a word for quite a while.
“…Dad?” said Dornes, barely able to choke out a sound. “What’s happening down there? What’s…going on?”
Moloch sighed. “Don’t be scared, Dornes. It’s all right. Everything’s going to be fine…both of you, come here.”
Dornes came walking over instantly, but Keichi stayed put. She looked just as confused and scared as her brother, but something else coloured her expression, as well…something her mother and brother lacked. In her eyes were the faintest hints of suspicion. She was a smart girl, that Keichi…she was a lot like him, in that way. Poor, motherless Keichi…poor, poor children…
“Dad…where’s mom? What’s happening?” said Dornes, his voice wobbling. Moloch bent down and hugged his son one final time, scythe still in hand…he had to fight to keep the wobble out of his voice.
“I’m sorry, you two…I swear, I will make Shoboro pay for causing it to come to this…
Keichi ran screaming down the hall as when she realized what was happening…but it was a dead end, and she’d have no way to escape when it was her turn. If only she’d come when asked…the amount of fear she must be feeling could only be excruciatingly painful, and he would’ve preferred it to be quick, before she even realized what was going on, like he’d been able to do for Dornes. It was painful enough as it was…
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