The story of Neim the Shinigami and the Ancient.

[[Shoe, baby! ♥~];;]

Some time between the human years 2011 and 2014

A lot can change in four years.
The world hasn't heard a peep from Kira in that amount of time, and Earth is plunging into crime once again. Even though He seemed to have come back for a split moment in time, three years ago, the world has still plunged. He is not a threat anymore, and the majority of the world has, quite frankly, forgotten his existence.

Except for, of course, the family and friends of the victims and the worshipers.

Enter Sakura, the Japanese based "cult" of sorts that devotes all its energies to praying for Kira' salvation. Dying for better days and for their saviour to return to their world once more. No one besides the people inside the group know much about them - though they have been charged with suspicions of being a sacrificial group. Perhaps, they believe, that Kira deemed them unworthy, and is just resting until his followers show their eternal devotion. They do not - cannot - see the world in a different sense. What is black is black, and what is white is white.

Though, they are unimportant on the grand scheme of things.

Skyder is the opposition, the criminals that had fallen prey to Kira in the past. Family members, friends, business partners - all lost due to one sociopath. So they think. They see this time as one to rejoice, yet they live in constant fear - fear of the damnation to return, and being smitten in the process. Their paranoia leads them to violently oppose Sakura, even though Sakura resides in Japan and they in the United States, and the feud has turned into a small-scale war of sorts.

One that has existed for two years.
Naturally, the two leaders of the groups despise each other most fervently, and long for the other's deaths. However, this is not crucial to our story ... not yet, at least.

No, it really starts with a bored Shinigami named Neim.

I suppose we all know how the Shinigami Realm operates. All the Death Gods do all day is gamble and sleep - not even bothering to write names down unless they absolutely have to. Ryuk was one of the few that even seemed to care about the human world, and boy, could he tell a story. The male Shinigami painted vivid pictures into Neim's mind - ones of an insane, brilliant human, writing down names under the notion that he would become a sort of 'God' through it. It was intriguing to him - the thought that Ryuk could stir up such an amount of excitement by simply dropping his Death Note on unsuspecting humans.

Surely, such fun would be better first hand. So Neim resolved to drop his Death Note down, craving the jubilence that Ryuk seemed to carry around.
It didn't turn out so well. Light Yagami was one in a billion - a man with true ambition, purpose, and intellect. One who knew exactly what he wanted, and how he was going to get it. A pathetic excuse of a human with a vision. There was simply no way to replace it. Neim soon became tired with his human, and killed him off swiftly to give it another shot.
This was all in the year 2011.

By December 6th, 2013 he had grown some sense. He had inspected more than ten humans, trying to give them a chance with no avail. None of them could give him the excitement he desired - and it was gnawing at him like a deep, unsatisfied addiction. How could he have expected it? Ryuk's adventure was a fluke, a stroke of luck. One that he wanted for himself. He turned to the only Shinigami that could possibly help him - an old one by the name of Au.

Au was an ancient as the Shinigami Realm itself, some said; he knew all the workings of it, every law, every loophole, and could even practice what most thought was magic through his extensive knowledge of what one can do. He was a wise being - with a memory span longer than anyone could even dare of dreaming of. Many thought that he should be the King of Shinigami - but, for whatever reason, the highest position he held was as an elder. Nobody is quite sure why, but the public normally agrees that it is his disregard for the rules of the Death Note that keep him from power. Au adored experimentation - testing the rules to their very limit, figuring out what was the worst he could do.

For this reason alone Neim sook him - if anyone knew of a way to target a specific exciting human from the Shinigami portal, it was him.

They met in Au's cave, which was a dark, depressing place, and Neim explained the best that he could what he wanted and the steps he had already taken. The entire story seemed to excite Au, a nasty grin on his bony face spreading wider and wider with each detail. At the end of Neim's narrative, he simply asked,
"Have you ever thought of bringing that human back to life?"

The last rule of the Death Note specifically states that once a human is dead, it can never be brought back to life. All Shinigami knew this - and it was one of those rules that you knew was impossible to get around. So, taking the question as a mere joke, Neim could only reply,
"Yeah. Lotta 'elp thatta do. We's tries it, ja."
While he expected Au to laugh at his "wit" or sarcasm, the ancient Shinigami merely let his grin grow wider, and said back to him,
"Good. I know of a way to do it, come with me."

Neim was dreadfully confused - not even Au was supposed to know of a way to do that. How could such a thing exist?
"I no unnerstand, Au; 'ow we doing et? Et impossible, Death Note says."

Au gave him a hard look in reply, taking out a plethora of ingredients and placing them in a glowing circle. He didn't seem to wish to deem that with a reply, but humored the other Shinigami anyway,
"Hmmf. You don't understand? Well, let me say this simply, then. The Death Note states that no human can be brought back to life. If we bring Mr. Yagami back as a half-breed, that is, not a human, we wouldn't be breaking a rule. Technically, it can be done. I've never tried it before, so give me some time...."

While it might have taken some Shinigami years to figure out how to do such a thing, it only took Au three weeks, if that. Many say it was his expansive knowledge. Others say that it was because he probably tried it before, and was now looking for a subject. However, the main population agrees that it is because he's a weird old fool, and probably overpowered in some sort of way, anyway.

On the day of completion (December 27th, 2013), Au called Neim back into his cave, to experience the wonder of incomplete resurrection, as he called it. Seeing as both the Shinigami are long gone by this point in time, and no one bothered to ask them how to do it, nobody is quite sure what steps Au took to revive the man with the God complex. All that we know is that, somehow, he was brought back to life in the Shinigami Realm, blinking and looking around, dumbfounded.

When one has been dead for about four years, they don't adapt to new surroundings very well. No one knows what happened to Light Yagami while he was in Mu, and only he could tell, if he was willing. Though it was obvious that it was nothing like the Shinigami world, what with him blinking and looking around in a stupefied manner for quite a time, while Au and Neim watched with an air of triumph around them. All Neim had to do now was tell Light what he used to do (in case he had forgotten), and provoke him to do the same thing once he descended back into the human world. It would be a trivial matter, nothing special. They did not yet know how being half-human affected Mr. Yagami, or even what his other half was, but it was no concern of theirs. All that was on Neim's mind was that 'Yes, with him I'll have fun yet.'

Though, as with all untested experiments, something was bound to go wrong.

It seemed that all of Light's most devoted followers were simply un-dying to see him once more, and his unnatural exile from Mu had triggered their ability to follow after him. Au and Neim didn't know what to do with the blond girl who was suddenly clinging onto Light like a deranged dog in heat, or the collected business man that stood off to the side with a questioning look in his eyes. However, they did not seem to be a threat to their newly-acquired toy, and what was the harm, anyway? Perhaps they could be the cause of further excitement.

They took the newly reborn into a different cave and Neim started to give them all the lay-down of what he wanted them to do. Au followed, mentor that he was, but soon traveled back to his cave, basking in the glow of a job well done.

What he saw on his arrival astounded him.

It seemed that Light's followers were not the only ones lusting to see him again, as evidenced by the raven haired, disheveled man sitting in the middle in a fetal position, and the blond (man...?) staring angrily to the side. They weren't the only ones, oh no - a crowd of them had appeared - all those who had lost their lives trying to take down Kira. It seemed that, since he got a second chance, they were going to get theirs as well.

It posed to be a problem, what with the entire pack bitching and shouting, complaining at each other and Au. A sudden thought dawned on him - why could they see Shinigami?
It wasn't like they had a Note, or should have that supernatural of powers. The loophole was supposed to make them half dead, not with the power to see him.
Surely, he had made a grave mistake.

Not knowing what else to do, he went to see Justin, the God of all Shinigami. Au explained what had happened, and the king listened patiently until he said simply,
"Just kill all the extras with the Death Note. They are still kinda human, right? It'll work."

So Au took out his own Note and wrote down the names in a frantic manner. The new ones could pose as a threat to Neim's fun with the God-complexed one, and they couldn't have that. Confident that they were safely dead, he went back to his cave in an effort to relax, while Justin pondered the entire incident. Surely this was against the rules somehow... even trying to get past such laws. It wasn't allowed, he believed, and if Au couldn't clean his mess, then they'd just erase him instead. You can't have Shinigami with the power to restore life running around the place; not when they didn't see the error of their ways and get rid of the problems in a timely manner.

When Au got back to his cave, he was alarmed to see the half-humans still standing there, now staring at him with collective hard eyes. The black-haired man spoke, his voice a monotone,
"You tried to kill us, correct? How naive. I don't think we're quite alive, do you? You can't kill something that's not truly human with that... thing."
The rest of the group nodded in agreement, smiling like demons. Dirty, disgusting creatures, thought Au, his face the exact example of astonishment.

"Do you know where Light-kun is, by chance? We all have unfinished business with him that we're simply aching to end."
Au became frightened of these half-breeds; he didn't know what they could do, what they were immune to, or even what the other half of them could be. For all he knew, they might not be humans in any shape at all! He was alarmed, and only backed away, the dark, gray eyes boring into him as he made his escape. It hadn't been such a great idea, reanimation. All that it had caused so far was strife. He couldn't even get rid of his own creations. Sure, they weren't a threat up front, but their very existance... if it got out....

Au fled from that accursed spot, into the very barrens of the Shinigami Realm. No one has been able to find him since. Some say he died, others say he turned insane - whatever happened, it is unimportant now.

Neim, however, was blissfully ignorant of his mentor's strife, and was still teaching Light all he needed to re-know about the Death Note, in case he had forgotten. The human wasn't acting very responsive; staring out into space and such. Neim became worried - perhaps he had turned stupid with the revival? He hadn't said a word, unlike his talkative blond partner, who squealed at every possible interval. He kept trying to teach the human, however, unaware of the Shinigami police that was slowly closing in, and of the extent of the reborn human's state.

Justin and about five other Shinigami dragged him out of his own cave, and brought him to a court of Shinigami on charges for breaking one of the most important rules of the Death Note. While technically he had done nothing wrong, the fact remained that if other Shinigami knew that this was possible and allowed it could possibly entice others to try the same thing. It wasn't like they even knew what these half-breeds were capable of doing, and it was a scary thought - what if they turned out to be more powerful than Shinigami? Could they even die? Surely they couldn't wait for more to burst into the portal; so they destroyed Au's cave, and sentenced Neim to death.

All the while they tried to figure out a way to destroy the half-breeds. Nothing seemed to work, and the group that had come out last was most bothersome. Always laughing at their attempts and asking where this "Light-kun" or "Kira" or "cute blond girl" was.

Eventually (January 27th, 2014) the Shinigami got fed up with all of them, and banished the lot of them to the human world. They were through with their futile attempts, and thought if anything can kill them, the human world will do it with ease. They probably even forgot how to eat or something, hopefully. Not their problem anymore.

However, as a precaution, because they didn't want a lot of trouble from down there (it was a strain to watch, and made it harder to find adequate prey), they dispersed group one (Light, Mikami, Takada, Misa, and any others) in Japan, and group two (L, Mello, Watari, Matt, and any others) in the United States. Why they chose the locations is probably just a result of their laziness - and their assumptions of their language.

With the problem solved, the Shinigami forgot about them, and while they are now unimportant, our subjects now take stage. Only I cannot say what happens to them - for I do not know. That is their choice, or rather, yours.
Will Light turn to Sakura, reviving himself as Kira? Will Mikami fall back onto his God, and follow him once more? Will Mello and Matt decide to simply take up a new life working at Kinkos? Will L just take his job once more and forget this ever happened? It's all up in the air at this point.

One thing is for certain, however - in this world of gods, men, and all that lie in-between - there will be no more second chances.

Subplots__________x

None as of yet.

Known Powers and Weaknesses Of the Half-Breeds.

[/i][/center]

››› Immune to the effects of the Death Note.
››› Can see Shinigami without owning or touching a Death Note.
››› Do not need to eat.
››› All burns/scars/cuts/other such unnatural blemishes have been removed, unless the Half-Breed has grown an emotional attachment to them.
››› Cannot acquire the eyes of a Shinigami.
More will be added as revelations are made.

[/sub]