Yu-Gi-Oh GX - Crossroads (2/11)
Jun. 17th, 2009 06:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
heleentjeStory Title: Crossroads
Chapter Title:
Author: Heleentje
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh GX
Rating: T
Characters: Johan, Yubel, Judai, Gem Beasts
Word Count: 2201
Warnings/spoilers: spiritshipping-if-you-squint, psycheshipping-if-you-look-sideways-and-s
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh GX or any of its characters
2. Ominous Night
Airbus A340-300 -- SK2866 -- Tokyo Narita Airport – Bergen International Airport
There was something about Business Class that just screamed ‘waste of money’ to him. Sure, the extra leg room was nice, and the food was a little better than on the rest of the plane, but all in all, it wasn’t really worth the money.
Johan shifted and threw a look out of the tiny window. It was completely dark outside, and the only thing he could make out was his own reflection. He brought his face closer to the window in an attempt to see something else, but there was nothing. He sighed and stretched, before checking the screen that was connected to his seat. It told him they were flying somewhere above China, so they probably still had a while to go.
He sighed again (it was quickly becoming a habit). He had never really managed to sleep well on airplanes, and this time probably wasn’t going to be an exception. The person next to him, an elderly lady who had kindly offered him the window seat because she didn’t like looking outside, was already fast asleep, but he was still wide awake. He briefly considered picking out something to watch, but he had already watched several Simpsons specials and a documentary about Egypt. The only thing the menu had left to offer was Pirates of the Caribbean, and since the airplane personnel had insisted on displaying the movie when he was headed for Japan, he decided to skip it.
He briefly considered talking to the Gem Beasts, but they were probably resting and wouldn’t take kindly to being woken up (Amethyst Cat in particular hated having to wake up -and she could make it quite clear too-). Instead, he started skipping through the music channels. His attention was briefly held by a retelling of The Little Mermaid (if he remembered correctly, this was the children’s channel), but he lost interest around the time that Ariel arrived in the human world.
The trip from Duel Academia to Tokyo had been utterly and completely uneventful. He had said goodbye to everyone, exchanged addresses (the last time everything had been so hectic he hadn’t found time for it) and a helicopter had taken him to the airport. Tokyo Narita was very similar to most international airports. Admittedly, check-in and customs hadn’t taken as long as other times, but that had had to do with the fact that Kaiba Corporation had ensured a VIP treatment for him.
A flight attendant passed, and upon seeing that he was still awake, asked him if he needed anything. He quickly shook his head, and she walked on. Most people were asleep by now. The lady next to him was snoring softly, but it didn’t really bother him. In fact, it reminded him of the time when he still bunked in Osiris Red. Judai had had the tendency to be noisy when he slept. Johan smiled fondly. It seemed like it was such a long time ago. He knew it had only been a few months, but after everything that had happened... The last time he had slept in Osiris Red was before Duel Academia got transported to that different dimension. When he had finally made it back, he couldn’t bear to go to the Red dorms, knowing that Judai wouldn’t be there.
He absently took a sip of a bottle of water standing in front of him. Something was nagging him again. He had the feeling that he was missing something, but he couldn’t imagine what. Something about the whole ‘Darkness’ story wasn’t right. Well, of course it wasn’t right, he reasoned. It had been very wrong, and they ought to be very grateful that Judai had once again managed to save them all. He knew he was. He still wanted to beat Judai, but above all, they were friends, and in the short time they knew each other, Judai had saved him twice already.
And still the nagging feeling wouldn’t go away. There was something. He looked out of the window again, but everything was still dark. He wondered briefly if he should be afraid of darkness now, but dismissed the idea almost immediately. If Judai really was Haou, it meant that the Darkness they had confronted wasn’t the only darkness around. Judai was powerful but good at heart, and the darkness he controlled was the same. But Darkness’ darkness corrupted. he had seen it.
The nagging feeling increased. There was something, right there, and he couldn’t grasp it. Something about Darkness... It had been so noticeably evil, he really hadn’t been able to ignore it.
He shook his head in frustration, and just decided to stop thinking about it. Maybe he could figure it out later, when he got back home. The Gem Beasts would definitely be able to help him. He couldn’t ask them now, though. For one, they were still asleep, and even though they didn’t have a physical body, trying to fit them all here would be very awkward. Not to mention that people didn’t really take kindly to someone talking to what appeared to be plain air.
The airplane was still quiet. The lady next to him moved slightly in her sleep, and a few seats in front of him, someone got up. He checked the screen again, and noticed that they had just left China.
He was just about to try and find something worth watching, when Ruby appeared next to the window. The tiny monster greeted him with a quiet “Rubii”. Johan returned the greeting silently, indicating the other passengers as a reason why he couldn’t speak up. Ruby didn’t seem to be bothered by this. She floated a few feet above him to take a look at the plane, then came back down and settled in his lap. Ruby yawned cutely, and Johan smiled as she curled up like a cat and promptly fell asleep. It was nice to have one of the Gem Beasts with him. Even though she was a spirit, and therefore weightless, it still seemed like he could feel her, and the idea comforted him.
It was nearing 2 o’clock, and he was starting to feel rather sleepy himself now. He rearranged the blanket so it covered him better (all the while trying not to disturb Ruby) and used the remote control to shift his seat in a better position. He spent some time trying to find a good sleeping position, and finally settled for just curling up. Ruby shifted slightly so that she too found a comfortable position, and slept on. Johan threw her one last glance, smiled again, and closed his eyes.
He can’t see. There’s darkness everywhere but he knows what’s coming, and he closes his eyes tightly.
There are others, and he knows... Doesn’t know exactly what he knows but he knows, and he’s scared, so very scared, but...
It hurts.
There’s pain, only pain, and it hurts so much, but he knew this was going to come, and it keeps hurting, but he has to go through with it ‘cause if he doesn’t there’s no one...
And there’s a fresh cut, his head now, and he can hear someone screaming, but maybe it’s just him, or maybe someone else is screaming too, but he really doesn’t know anym...
“Sir! Sir, are you alright?”
Johan jolted awake. The flight attendant was staring at him, and the lady next to him had woken up too and immediately began fussing over him. Several people were looking his way, and Ruby was chirping frantically as he shakily raised himself to a sitting position.
“Wha- What happened?” He managed to ask. His forehead hurt terribly, and he could feel the pain still spreading through his body.
“You were screaming, sir.” the flight attendant told him.
“He was trashing so much too, it woke me up,” the lady next to him added. She turned to him: “Are you okay, dear?”
Johan nodded slowly: “Yeah... yeah, just a nightmare, I’m sorry”
“Can I get you anything, sir? Something to drink?”
“No, it’s okay...” he motioned towards the bottle of water still standing in front of him. He was shaking all over.
“Are you sure, dear? You look very pale.”
“No, really, I’m sorry to have bothered you...”
Johan sunk back down into his seat. All around him people were losing interest. Some tried to go back to sleep, while a few businessmen took out their laptops.
Ruby was still chirping concernedly, and he could hear the other Gem Beasts talking frantically amongst each other.
“I’m fine. It’s okay...” No one really seemed to believe him. The flight attendant moved on, but kept throwing concerned glances in his direction, and he could hear Amethyst Cat saying that they would talk “the moment they got out of this stupid plane.”
Johan gulped down some water. The pain was subsiding, but the memory was still very vivid. He tentatively touched his forehead. The pain seemed to be centered there, but he didn’t feel anything strange.
What had happened? He only remembered pain, but what had caused it? Who wanted to hurt him, and what did all of this mean?
Maybe it was just an ordinary nightmare. It might mean nothing at all. The clock told him it was almost 9 a.m. He must have slept longer than he realised, but he didn’t feel rested at all.
According to the map, the plane was almost in Europe. In a few hours, they would reach Norway.
He put the chair back into an upright position. The flight attendants started to distribute breakfast, and the same attendant who had woken him up handed him his tray. She gave him a concerned look, but he quickly assured her that everything was okay. Ruby migrated to his shoulder so he could put the tray down, and looked down with interest as Johan picked up the orange juice. He drank quickly, noting that the juice was freshly squeezed, and put the glass (now empty) back down. He stared at the food for a moment, before deciding that he really wasn’t hungry and leaning back into his seat.
He was still shaken, but at least the pain had disappeared. The plane was flying over the Baltic states now, and since it was finally light again, he tried to find any villages or towns, but it was too cloudy. He rested his forehead against the window, and the chill helped him clear his head somewhat.
Looking back, it probably really had been just a nightmare. Granted, it had been a very vivid one, but he suspected that some of the events of the last few days had seeped into his subconscious.
The flight attendants came to collect the trays. This time he smiled at the attendant who had been taking care of him, and that seemed to reassure her, because she didn’t ask him if he was alright anymore.
He closed his eyes for a while, and he must have dozed off despite everything, because the next thing he knew, the plane was arriving in Bergen. After that, it didn’t take long to get through customs (he still had to part with his deck for a while, something he always felt a bit uneasy about). He was held up for a while when someone at the scanning machines recognized the cards in his deck as the fabled Gem Beasts, and had to first prove he was indeed Johan Andersen.
This caused a lot of dueling fans who were coincidentally in the same queue (and some people from nearby queues as well, including a group of children coming back from a school trip) to ambush him and ask for an autograph. Topaz Tiger materialized in an attempt to drive them off, but the effect was minimal. Johan could only detect two or three people who gave any inclination of being able to see the tiger.
After a while security interfered, though, and Johan succeeded in getting away. The airport was very crowded, but luckily he managed to get a taxi to his apartment rather quickly. He had decided to buy an apartment in Bergen after being informed that he was going to go to Duel Academia, Bergen International Airport being the only Norwegian airport that offered direct flights to Japan.
The taxi driver tried to start up a conversation, but after realizing that his passenger was practically falling asleep in his seat, he gave up. Johan was grateful for the silence, and dozed off slightly. After about thirty minutes, he was alerted by both the driver and the Gem Beasts that they had reached their destination, and he quickly paid, thanked the driver and entered the building.
The complex was deserted, most people having left for work. He entered his apartment, and quickly put his few possessions away, before flopping down on his bed. Amethyst Cat and Sapphire Pegasus appeared beside his bed, and they seemed very intent on speaking to him, but he couldn’t muster up the energy to actually talk with them. Jet lag and general lack of sleep were taking its toll, and he was out the moment he closed his eyes.