A Tithe to Hell. Death Note, Light / L.

Title: A Tithe to Hell
Fandom: Death Note. Not mine, etc.
Pairing: Light x L. AU, set immediately after manga issue 53 (the end of the Yotsuba Arc).
Length: 34,000 words; complete.

Rating: Extreme NC-17. Extremely graphic art contained within the fic. Extremely Not-Work-Safe.

Warnings for: knife/bloodplay, excessive eyerolling, bad metaphoric comparisons of L to fish, amphibians, birds, monkeys, insects, cave dwellers, and fungi, ridiculous amounts of cuddling, and cake as a plot device.

Notes: This fic is an AU attempt to turn Death Note canon into my own kinky fairy tale. It was created and posted in the draft stages on an entirely anonymous forum, which is probably why I actually finished it without freaking out. It was a great experience and one everyone should have. <3

Thanks to tl__dr, quaedam, and kxo for betaing, and with helpless, unending fangirl buckets of love to Quaedam. I am so honored and grateful and lucky to get to present this fic with your incredible artwork.

Title and epigrams are taken from The Ballad of Tam Lin. Extra-special thanks to the meme for inspiration and encouragement <3, to Franzi for thwapping, and to you for reading this. I never expected this fic to turn into what it did.

eta, 11/23: and thank you to marokura for the additional fanart, also linked in the body of the fic. The overall response to this fic has been so overwhelmingly positive. I am touched and grateful, and appreciate it so very much, you guys. Thanks to everyone for reading.


This fic is dedicated to tl__dr, for whom it was most joyfully written.



A Tithe to Hell




O I was born of mortal flesh
as human as you be
until from my horse one day I fell
and the fairy queen caught me
pleasant is the fairy land
but an eerie tale to tell
at the end of seven years
they must pay a tithe to hell





(Higuchi.)