A/N: It took me so long to come up with an idea for a DN fic. Strangely, a song called "Dear Prince" by a Taiwanese pop/rock group (Cherry Boom) inspired me to write it. You'd understand if you heard it. So creepy . . . (especially the PV)

Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note. No way I could, since I'm definitely not that smart.

He was lying on his back when he opened his eyes groggily, seeing nothing. Well, he saw plenty. That smirk was engraved into his mind as if it were a scar from a nasty burn. But he saw nothing physically around him. The young man gave no reaction when he couldn't make out his very own hand, nor could he hear his own voice. Was this the fate of the dead? The soul leaves the body to be placed in a horrid state between reality and fantasy? Actually, he reasoned, now there was no such thing as reality or otherwise. He was dead. There was nothing else to it. No Heaven would exist for him or anyone else, for that matter. He never believed in the concept of Heaven and Hell, so he wasn't in the least bit surprised to find himself stuck in a place that held no borders, no sight, and no sound. He stopped his train of thought and realized that he couldn't assume anything about where he was. First, he had to explore.

The once-was insomniac slowly got to his feet, unfamiliar with his lack of tangible surroundings and inability to see. What kind of exploring could he really do, anyway? During the process of standing up, he became aware of the fact that he still retained the sense of touch, so he supposed that he could feel around to try to find any kind of object. Though, he seriously doubted his hands would touch anything other than the ground beneath his feet.

As he staggered through the darkness, he noticed a tingling sensation begin in his feet and gradually start to travel up to his knees. He tried his best to ignore it, but the feeling was turning into pain. He briefly wondered how he could even experience such a thing when he was dead, but that thought was immediately erased when he doubled over from the excruciating pain that had rapidly made its way up to his neck. Since he wasn't used to the intensity, he let a scream escape from his throat. It wasn't like it mattered, since no one was around, and he couldn't hear. Then the pain reached his head, and he squeezed his eyes shut, anticipating the worst. But it suddenly left him.

L snapped his eyes open and was fairly startled that he could see himself. He mumbled his disbelief and was further shocked to hear his voice. Looking around, the young man came to the quick realization that he was right after all.

He was alone.

"It's the cruelest fate for me," he whispered. "I have nothing to occupy myself with, no mystery to solve . . . and no sweets to eat."

He knew eating didn't matter now, but he would miss the taste of sugar and the happiness that it brought him. Though, it upset him far more that he couldn't put his skills to use any longer. What would he do for the rest of eternity? Think about the chaos that was surely ensuing in the world of the living now that he was eradicated, L supposed. No, that wasn't like him. That would be sulking. But it wasn't as if he could do anything to help the situation.

There was nothing anyone could do. He was the only person who still had suspicion of Yagami Raito after the whole Yotsuba incident. With him gone, Raito could easily become the puppeteer that L was positive he dreamt of becoming. Kira could finally have the control he wanted. L shuttered at the thought.

"I'd much rather be a restless soul that becomes a ghost, damned to wander the living world until the apocalypse comes. At least then I could haunt him," he muttered as he sat on the peculiar ground. "What am I sitting on, I wonder?" He poked it curiously but found it to be like any normal floor of a room. Drawing his knees to his chest, he looked up in thought. He would go crazy with merely sitting in a place that consisted of obscurity. He knew he would become anxious within a day's worth of time. Wait, was there even such a thing as "time" in this place? "I would think not," he answered his mental question out loud. L found it strange that he, who was socially inept, suddenly had the urge to be surrounded by people. "It must be the shock of death. It's making me think bizarre things."

And it was a shock, indeed. He never would have guessed that he would die at such a random time. Granted, he knew something was wrong when Watari deleted all of the data, but he didn't think he was next. L wondered what kind of performance Raito put on after his death. He frowned at the thought of Kira screaming over his limp body in "anguish." Then L proceeded to go through a list of all the things he could have done to prove to the team that he was right in suspecting the teenager. They were never behind him on that, but he didn't expect them to agree with his tactics completely. If he had pushed it all one step further, then maybe Raito's true nature would have been revealed. He had an ugly side after all, L thought. I always knew he was too perfect. It had seemed as if the boy was hiding some dark secret that, if made known, would destroy him. Even though the detective ended up dead, he had some solace in knowing the fact that he wasn't wrong.

"Yagami Raito is Kira," he said emphatically.

"Really, now?" a voice asked from behind him.

L twisted his head in a fashion that should have been uncomfortable, yet strangely wasn't, to see who the voice belonged to. "Oh, it's you."

Yes, I know. That was incredibly short. The chapters will get longer, I promise. It's just that I wanted to end it after those numerous paragraphs of barely-there dialogue. Oh, and this is such a sad attempt at a cliffhanger. Forgive me. Eheheh . . .

Now to explain the "afterlife." Ryuuk said at the end of the manga that "death is equal," everyone goes to same place when they die. So there is no Heaven or Hell. I just wanted to clear that up for everyone.

Minna-san gokigenyou.