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Yu-Gi-Oh GX - Crossroads (8/11)
Story Title: Crossroads
Chapter Title: Determination
Author: Heleentje
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh GX
Rating: K+
Characters: Johan, Yubel, Judai, Gem Beasts
Word Count: 2177
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
8. Determination
After almost a week of too-warm weather, it had finally started to rain, but instead of downpour, the rain was no more than a drizzle. It managed to thoroughly irritate those people who had to be outside, but didn’t get rid of the stuffy atmosphere.
Johan didn’t have to be outside, though. In fact, he had been expressly forbidden to leave his apartment, and he was fine with that. Shortly after his conversation with O’Brien, he had fallen asleep on the sofa, and he had slept for a solid ten hours.
It was ten past eight the following day when he woke up again, feeling better than he had in several days. Sunlight was starting to filter through the curtains, and Johan blinked groggily, lifting one hand to block the incoming light. He shifted slightly and felt his muscles protest; the couch wasn’t the most comfortable spot to sleep on. 8.10
He got up and stretched briefly, then went to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of fruit juice. Ruby appeared next to him.
“Good morning,” he greeted her. She let out a soft “Rubii” in return and settled down on his shoulder. Johan returned to the living room, taking the bottle and a glass with him, and sat down on the couch again.
There was something therapeutic about going from the kitchen to the living room and back again. It seemed like that was all he had actually been doing the last days, and the routine of it all gave him something solid to hang on to. He picked up the remote control, but put it back down after realising that there wouldn’t be anything interesting to watch, especially not at this time of the day. Ruby moved from his shoulder to his lap, curled up and yawned widely. He watched as she quickly fell asleep, then carefully moved into a more comfortable position.
“I’m sorry,” he told her softly, “I haven’t been good company lately.”
He did feel better. He still had no idea what was going on, but the idea that it might not be his darkness troubling him calmed him greatly. Having been able to sleep had also helped, of course.
Amethyst Cat appeared next to the TV set, eyeing him critically before gracefully walking over and jumping on the couch, next to him. They sat in silence for a while, Johan absentmindedly playing with the sleeve of his pajamas (he should change, he decided), and Amethyst Cat licking her front paws. After deciding that her paws were sufficiently cleaned, the spirit looked back at him.
“You look better.”
“I feel better,” Johan agreed, “I finally got to sleep.”
“So no weird dreams?”
“None. At least, none that I can remember.”
“Can you think clearly again?”
“I think so. Sorry for having to put up with me, it must’ve been terrible for all of you.”
Amethyst Cat snorted, but she smiled anyway:
“It was only terrible because we don’t want to see you suffer. We’re glad to have you back.”
“Thanks...” Johan smiled slightly. He closed his eyes for a second. In the distance, a clock chimed once. 8.30
“It still doesn’t make sense, though,” Johan began, “I mean, if it isn’t my darkness overpowering me, then what is it?”
“I have no idea. Do you?”
Johan shook his head: “I wouldn’t be asking if I knew.”
“Just let it go for now. Do something else. Maybe those dreams won’t come back.”
“We’ve thought that before. They always come back, so I’d better be prepared for it.”
Amethyst Cat looked straight at him: “If you’re planning on not sleeping again, forget it. I don’t want a repeat of last week.”
“Don’t worry, neither do I.”
“Good.” Amethyst Cat shifted slightly, lifted one paw and gently touched Ruby, who was still sleeping.
“You have no idea how worried she was,” she said softly, “we all were, but I’ve never seen her this distressed. She was always worrying... In the end, we had to stop her from leaving, she wanted to find someone to help you herself.”
Johan stayed silent, looking at the spirit lying on his lap. He bowed his head.
“I’m really sorry.”
“It’s not your fault, not really.”
“Yeah, but I shouldn’t have panicked. It’s not like me.”
“No, it’s not, but you can be excused.”
“Who did she want to go to?”
“Who do you think? The only person who would be able to see her and be capable of helping you.”
Johan nodded slowly: “Judai shouldn’t come here, though.”
“Why not?”
“Even if it isn’t Darkness, I still wanted to hurt Judai. Every time I had that one dream, I desperately wanted to hurt him. What would happen if I had that dream and he was actually here?”
He felt the anxiety slowly returning: “I really don’t want to hurt Judai, he’s my friend! But if he comes here... I don’t know.”
“Judai can take care of himself. Even if that were to happen, he still wouldn’t let you hurt anyone.”
“I’m stronger...”
“Only physically,” Amethyst Cat corrected, “besides, a few hours of sleep aren’t going to replenish all your energy. You’re still weak. And Judai isn’t here, so you don’t need to worry about that.”
“Even so... It could still be dangerous.”
“Don’t worry about it. Why don’t you just do something else?”
Johan picked up the remote control again and switched on the TV, but as he had predicted, there was nothing interesting to watch. He spent some time flicking through channels, but eventually gave up and pressed the ‘off’ button. He briefly considered looking for a book or a magazine, but doing so would mean getting up, and he didn’t want to disturb Ruby.
Amethyst Cat had disappeared again a few minutes ago, and Johan missed her company. He would’ve liked someone to talk to, if only because being alone did nothing to alleviate his worries. In hindsight, it wasn’t really logical for his darkness to be affecting him, too many things just didn’t add up. But that didn’t help him to solve this entire mystery. He hoped he would be able to find an answer soon. Once in a while, he longed for some sort of normal life.
He felt like the only thing he could do was wait and hope that a solution would somehow come to him, but he found it hard to do.
--
In California, at Industrial Illusions headquarters, a privately chartered airplane was getting ready for take-off. One of the few passengers on board had just spent five hours in a helicopter, and was now getting ready for another twelve-hour flight.
--
At one o’clock, Ruby woke up again. Johan smiled at her lazily, before getting up and going to the kitchen in search of food. He had spent the last four hours sitting down, just thinking and occasionally talking to the other Gem Beasts, who had shown up at regular intervals. They all agreed that a lot of things didn’t make sense, but, as Cobalt Eagle had put it, ‘the world stopped making sense the moment we set foot at Duel Academy’.
He felt drowsy. Amethyst Cat had been right when she had sad that he hadn’t regained all of his energy yet, and just sitting and doing nothing was very tiresome.
Johan quickly finished the sandwich he had made, and then headed for his bedroom, in search of clean clothes. He wondered if he should take out his school uniform again, but finally opted for a shirt and jeans and went to the bathroom.
--
Almost four hours later, Johan was still lounging around in the living room. He had taken a book with him, but he had already read it once before and the plot failed to retain his interest. He yawned, then sighed resignedly. This had happened before, and every time he started to feel tired, he would fall asleep within the hour, even if he tried to stay awake. He’d usually be woken up again within the next two hours, more often than not by the Gem Beasts.
There was really no way to stop himself from sleeping. Neither was there a way of stopping himself from dreaming.
“You’re going to fall asleep again, aren’t you?”
Amethyst Cat and Sapphire Pegasus appeared. They looked concerned.
“Yes, probably.”
“We’ll watch out for you,” Sapphire Pegasus promised.
“Thanks,” Johan smiled slightly and put the book down. As he had predicted, he fell asleep within the next ten minutes.
He can see the entire kingdom from up here.
It’s marvellous and peaceful, and he hopes that the peace will never be broken. But he knows that one day there’ll be a fight.
And he’s ready.
He knows what will happen, but he wants to do this, because he needs protection, and he’s the only one capable of doing this.
And no matter how much it will hurt, no matter the consequences, he wants to go through with it. he won’t let anyone else take his place.
He would probably disagree, try to stop him or change his mind, but he will do this.
He loves him and wants to protect him. That’s really all that matters.
He had never woken up just like that, someone else always had to wake him up, but he was awake now, and no one was yelling. He got up, and Sapphire Pegasus lifted his head.
“Are you alright?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
“Are the dreams gone? You looked so peaceful.”
Johan shook his head and frowned: “No, I did dream. But it was different.”
Amethyst Cat came from behind the sofa and sat down on the floor.
“Must have been,” she told him, “you were calm for once.”
“It didn’t hurt. There was a country, and I could see everything.”
“Is it a completely unrelated dream?” Sapphire Pegasus asked.
“No, I don’t think so, “ Johan closed his eyes briefly, trying to recall the details, “There’s someone I want to protect. Someone I love. I don’t know, but during the first two dreams, I felt the same.”
“Someone you love?”
“Yes... It’s weird.”
Sapphire Pegasus opened his mouth, but closed it again. Johan got up.
“What time is it?”
“Almost nine o’clock. Don’t you think you should eat?”
“I’m not really hungry. Maybe later.”
Johan picked up his book again, and opened it on the place where he had stopped reading. the plot still didn’t manage to captivate him, but nevertheless, he read on.
--
At Bergen International Airport, several planes were waiting for permission to land. One of them hadn’t been scheduled to arrive that day, and the airport personnel had had to scramble to clear one of the smaller runways in time. The few passengers on board had just woken up and were now watching as the airport building grew bigger and bigger.
“We’re here,” one of them said quietly.
The passing flight attendant thought he was just talking to himself.
--
Johan closed the book he had been reading and put it to the side. He had almost finished it, but now he really was hungry, and the book wouldn’t be going anywhere. He decided against cooking, and took out a slice of bread and a knife. He found the cheese near the back of the fridge, and quickly cut off a piece, then grabbed a plate and returned to the living room, munching on the bread. It had been a surprisingly calm day, especially compared to the previous days, and he hoped that he would have a calm night as well.
He was just about to voice that sentiment to Sapphire Pegasus, who was still standing in the living room, when someone knocked on his front door.
Johan looked up. Why would anyone be visiting him now, at this time of the day? And why hadn’t they used the intercom instead of coming up directly?
He frowned. How had they even gained access to the building?
There was another knock, and Johan decided he might as well go and find out who was on the other side of the door. He quickly crossed the hallway and turned the key, then opened the door slightly.
He almost reeled back in surprise.
“Judai?”
“Hi, can I come in?”
It was Judai, and Johan could see Yubel standing behind him. Pharaoh made use of the open door to slip inside.
“What are you doing here?” Johan opened the door a bit wider, but still didn’t let him enter.
“Getting Pharaoh back, it seems.” Judai pointed at the cat, who had stopped in the middle of the hallway and was now looking at him expectantly, “Are you going to let me in, Johan?”
Johan hesitated: “I’m not sure if that’s a good idea...”
Judai frowned: “O’Brien called me. According to him, you were in trouble. Either way, I’m coming in.”
“I should’ve known... I’m not going to be able to stop you, am I?”
“No, you’re not.”
Johan opened the door fully.
“All right then, come in.”