????


    My eyes opened and the world around me was a dull ashy grey. Even the sky, which had a strange light behind the ‘clouds’.


    It was a barren desert scenery, with small caves for sand dunes and bones for tumbleweeds. A lot of chains, for some reason. I was out in the open, near no structure, noting all this in my slowly waking mind.


    I had no idea how much time had passed. Just the same as when you are born you don’t recall all the millennia before you, it had been the same after I died and awoke again. This was unlike a nothingness, like the rules had promised- and unlike a heaven or hell, with no God in sight to judge me.


    Last I remember, I had died- struggling to even speak. But now, a feeling of restlessness rose within me.


    I was sitting when I opened my eyes, and I moved to stand up. I was tall. So tall. Much more than my memory recalls. I glanced down at myself to see spindly, bony black legs holding me up.


    My eyes widened.


    Without thinking, I reached down an arm to touch it, only to see that my arm was a similar design.


    I screamed. My voice was different. I screamed louder.


    “Shut up!” A raspy voice came from behind me. My head snapped over in the direction of the voice and I went silent.


    A group of 3 demons sitting in a circle were looking at me (or at-least, what appeared to be demons).


    …


    So I AM in hell after all!


    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    “You’re being so noisy…” A smaller one, that looked almost like a blob muttered.


    “Can’t a shinnigami play some cards in peace?” A tall one with ahunched back added. It was then I noticed they had some sort of game going on.


    But that was the least of my concerns. Did he just say SHINNIGAMI?


    “Shinnigami?” If a jaw was present on my current anatomy, it was definitely dropped. Some of them let out cackles of laughter at, assumedly, what I said.


    Shinnigami. As in, ‘Shinnigami That Brings Death-notes To Earth And Brought One To Me And Led To Traumatic Events And My Eventual Death Due To The Betrayal Of My Friend Eva’. No… this can’t be possible. I remember the shinnigami (whose name she told me was Kor) from back then, and now that I was really looking- everybody here held similar appearance characteristics.


    Suddenly a memory hit me. Me and Kor’s conversation about where she came from. A place which was simply called ‘The shinnigami realm’. I glanced around like it would change my conclusion, but I’m pretty sure that aforementioned location is where I am right now.


    This can’t be happening. After all I’ve been put through, there’s still MORE?!? CAN’T I REST??


    While I was having my dramatic inner monologue one of them tried to speak. Couldn’t they tell I was having an important self reflection moment?


    As the absurdity of the situation calmed; all the anger, betrayal, and hatred that collected from what happened in my past life (which very recently used to be called ‘my current life’) bubbled up inside of me. Without even realising it, I lunged forward in a fit of anger, tackling the blob-like shinnigami and throwing punches left and right. It was easy to overpower them and I realised how much stronger I was. The other two shinnigamis were stunned and watched me, frozen.


    The shinnigami seemed to not do anything in response, so then I grabbed the death-note next to it and got up and started running. It was then I realised I had a murder notebook of my own, attached to a case on my hip (it kept making a sound as I ran). Kor had said that to go to the human world (literally just Earth) shinnigamis needed two death-notes.


    Well I’ve got two. But how do I go to Earth? I had no idea and I was NOT going back to ask.


    I saw a cave a short distance away, not at all distinct from any other cave in this landscape- making it a perfect place to hide. I stumbled into the entrance and was immediately blinded by an ethereal light, I had to squint to keep my eyes open at all. A vortex of some sort seemed to fill the cavern. For a moment, I thought it was beautiful. Then I remembered where I was, and in lieu of a sense of beauty I felt curiosity.


    It may have been dangerous, but oh well. Why should I care? I have nothing anymore. I threw caution to the wind again.


    Cheers to my new life.


    I stepped forward into the light.