A/N: As promised, here's that sequel! So, it goes without saying that there's OCs. Also, this story is a fianceshipping fic, OC pairings definitely exist, having been hinted at in the previous story, and some chapters may be OOC (although reasons will become clear when these pop up). Just like Fiend's Servant, this story is a collab with Shadgirl2. Enjoy! We don't own Yugioh GX.
A mansion. Sho gaped. Yep, that's what he was looking at. He glanced at his friend's father, wondering if this could be some kind of joke or something. After all, what were the odds that he'd befriend a boy who was not only lost in the woods for years, but also happened to be rich like Manjoume?
To little Sho's shock, the guy wasn't kidding! Kenta Yuki walked right up to the mansion and entered, with his son, Judai, and Sho following behind.
"Hikari, I'm home! And I've got a surprise for you," Kenta called as he stepped into the entrance hall.
"What is it, Kenta, dear?" a brown-eyed woman with auburn hair asked, coming out of the kitchen. She froze in her tracks when she saw the boy standing behind her husband. "...Judai...?"
"A boy by the name of Austin O'Brien tracked me down, saying that Judai was looking for us," Kenta said, a smile on his face. "I didn't want to tell you until I was sure that it was him."
"Judai!" Hikari exclaimed, rushing over and pulling her son into her arms.
"Hi, Mom."
The main thing Judai could remember about his mother was that she could be a bit of a worrywart. Well, if he had thought that had changed, he'd been wrong. For the better part of the next hour, she wouldn't let go as she gushed about how much he had grown, worried over the cuts on his face (although they weren't bleeding anymore, luckily for him), and thanked every divine force that she could think of for him being alive.
While Hikari did this, Kenta challenged Sho to various card games. Judai joined them, once his mother finally let go for good. Sho never did get around to going to school, completely forgetting about it and that huge science test he had that day. He stayed at Judai's until after dark, even joining them for dinner that night.
It wasn't until he went to bed that Judai realized he had a problem.
As soon as he fell asleep, Judai had the worst nightmare he had ever had thus far. He woke, screaming, drawing both his parents into his room. They couldn't get him to say anything, and he was shaking uncontrollably. They spent a great deal of time trying to calm him, his mother pulling him into her arms and his father saying the same reassuring phrases over and over again.
After two hours, Judai's breathing calmed down some, so his dad chanced to ask, "So, son. Feeling any better?"
"Y-yeah..." he stuttered, finally speaking.
"Thank heavens," his mother said. "I was so worried. What happened to you to cause such a horrible dream?"
"It's..." Judai trailed off, not entirely sure how to tell them his story—or how much to tell them.
"It's okay, son," his father said, misinterpreting his silence as fear. "We're here to help you. Now, tell us what happened to you out there?"
Judai was silent. How do I tell them I got kidnapped by a duel spirit who made me her pet, then became my friend, then gave me these nightmares when I ran away?
"Judai?" His mother's voice was filled with concern; she thought he was slipping back into his nightmares or something.
"W-well... I was... I got lost and...and a...duel spirit found me..."
"What!?" his parents exclaimed, horrified. No surprise—if Judai had learned one thing since returning to human civilization, it was that humans viewed wild duel spirits as evil beings.
"She...she took me to her castle and...and locked me in a cage."
Judai wasn't hesitating out of fear—he was hesitating because he wasn't sure if his parents could really handle the news. They were staring at him, his mother looking ready to faint if she heard any more, which automatically made Judai decide to skip the details.
"She treated me like a pet for the first week she had me. After that, she..."
His father stared at him, mouth agape in shock.
"My poor baby! No wonder you're having such terrible nightmares!" his mother exclaimed, pulling him into her arms again and stroking his hair. "It's okay, my son. It's all over now."
Judai just sat in his mother's arms, not sure he should contradict her. After all, it didn't seem like she could handle much more, and he wasn't really sure how to tell them the rest anyway.
"You're safe with us now," his mother continued.
"That's right, son," Kenta said. "We'll protect you, so you don't need to be afraid anymore. It's going to be okay, okay?"
When Judai still didn't speak, his mother interpreted his silence as fear. "There, there," she soothed, stroking his hair some more. "It's alright. I'm here."
If she's gonna keep doing this, I'd better go on... Judai thought. Clearly she's got the wrong idea...
"After a week, she...changed her mind about me. She apologized for treating me like that, said it was because she was lonely and had never had any friends. I...offered to be her friend if she'd let me go. Well, she took the friendship offer, but...but she said that..."
He trailed off, not sure how his parents would react to that.
"There, there, it's okay, sweetie," his mother soothed, misinterpreting him again. "Everything's okay. You're safe with Mommy now." She kept stroking his hair. Poor baby, his childhood must have been horribly traumatic.
"She said that... I told her my parents had to be worried, and she said that you'd probably forgotten about me," Judai continued, not wanting to worry them any more than necessary.
"No, Judai!" his mother exclaimed, pulling back and looking at him, horrified at the very suggestion. "We could never forget about you! You're our son, and we love you."
"That's right," his father confirmed. "Why else would we stay up all night with you because you had a bad dream? Don't worry, son. Our love for you is eternal."
"I know, and I started trying to get away from her. Well, I finally did, recently," Judai continued, purposely skipping the worst parts of the story so as not to upset his parents—especially his mother—more, "but she has these weird powers... She used them to...give me nightmares."
"What!?"
"My friends know about this, and Johan's dad called a doctor and set up an appointment for me... I don't know if that'll help, though."
His mother looked at him sympathetically. "Judai... Don't worry. We'll do whatever it takes to put an end to this."
"I promise, son," his father echoed. "We won't rest until you can."
"Kathleen said to use a dream catcher... It doesn't exactly work, but it makes them less...severe."
"A dream catcher, huh?" His mother looked thoughtful. "Now that's interesting. I'll have to look into that one."
"In the meantime, son, just try and get some rest; and, remember, it's only a dream. In fact, your mother and I will stay in the room with you tonight. Sound good?"
"Yeah, okay," Judai said, knowing full well that they'd probably be running back in during the night, so they might as well stay.
Despite his father's words, Judai couldn't seem to tell the difference between a dream and reality. These dreams of his were so terrifying because they could easily happen, and each one featured the horrifying deaths of his friends and family at the hands of Yubel as he was forced to watch helplessly from nearby. The nightmares that followed that night were so bad that his parents couldn't seem to get through to him.
Judai awoke from his latest nightmare, screaming and thrashing around. Again, his parents were awakened by his distress.
"Judai, honey, it's okay!" his mother soothed, restraining him so he wouldn't hurt himself. "It was just a nightmare! Just a bad dream!"
He kept screaming, crying and thrashing around. They couldn't stop him—he was completely out of it.
"Hikari, we're going to have to take him to the hospital!" Kenta finally said over his son's screams.
Hikari nodded, and they managed to get their son into the backseat of the car, his mother holding onto him, and took him to the hospital to have him sedated.
Judai woke, gasping. He had fallen asleep sometime during the night, from what he could tell, but he hadn't had any nightmares...or any dreams at all, that he could remember. Looking around, he wasn't sure where he was—the walls were white, and he was lying on a bed. His parents were sitting by the bed, sleeping.
A brown, winged fuzzball, Winged Kuriboh, showed up over his shoulder. "Kuri?" it asked, wondering if its partner was sane yet.
"Winged Kuriboh..." Judai said, confused. Looking around, he wondered, Where am I, and how did I get here?
A woman in a pink dress walked in—a nurse, he realized. "And how are we feeling this morning, young man?" she asked quietly when she saw that he was awake.
"Where am I?" he asked her.
"It's okay, son," she said gently. "You're at Domino Hospital. Your parents brought you here last night because you were having a serious panic attack. So we had you sedated to calm you down. So, are you feeling any better now?"
He let that sink in for a moment before answering, "Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay."
His mother stirred. "Un... Judai...?" She bolted upright, continuing, "Judai! Are you okay!?"
Her cries woke his father, who also looked at him worriedly.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Judai told them reassuringly.
"I wouldn't say 'fine,' young man," the nurse countered. "The cause of those panic attacks is yet to be determined." She turned to his parents and said, "You should keep him here until the initial cause is found."
"Understood, ma'am," his father said, nodding. "That's what we'll do, then."
His mother clasped her hands, visibly upset. "My poor son..."
"It was just a nightmare..." Judai said, yet his tone sounded like he was trying to reassure himself, not them.
"No," the nurse said firmly. "I'm afraid it's worse than that. No ordinary dream could produce such a fearful response. I'm afraid we're going to need to run some tests to determine what's really causing them." She started walking off, adding, "I'll inform the doctor. He'll take care of it, so don't worry."
As he sat there in that hospital bed, Judai couldn't help but think that he should confront that spirit Yubel about this. Look where these nightmares of hers have gotten me! On top of that, that's the first time I've gotten any real sleep since these things started, and I'm tired of it. She said I was free, so why am I still having her nightmares?
He stood up.
"And where are you going?" his father asked.
"The nurse said to stay here!" his mother added.
"Staying here isn't gonna end this," Judai said. "I only know one thing that will."
"You can't!" Mom exclaimed. "What if something happens to you!? I don't want to lose you again!"
"She's right, son! Please, reconsider! You may have gotten away from that fiend last time, but this time, you may not be so lucky!"
"Just let the doctors deal with it! Please!"
"I wasn't planning on going alone," Judai said by way of reassurance.
"Judai!" his parents exclaimed, not happy with his answer.
"Please," he pleaded. "It's the only way to actually end all of this. Otherwise, I'll have to be drugged every time I go to bed!"
"Judai," his dad said.
His mother started to protest, "But—"
"Please," Judai said again. "I... She said last time I saw her that she'd let me go, and, if she changes her mind, I know someone who can handle her! Please! I can't take much more of this!"
His parents were quiet for a moment before his father said, "Fine, son. If you're sure it's the only way..."
"It is."
"Then I guess I won't stop you. Good luck, my boy."
"But, Kenta—"
"It's the only way," he interrupted. "We have to trust him. He's been fighting that thing all his life. If anyone can stop it, he can."
Judai thought it best not to correct him on the "fighting" bit.
"I hope you're right," Mom said. "Just be careful, my son. And, please. Promise me you'll return to us!"
"Don't worry. I will."
Judai ran out of the room, finding a payphone in the waiting room. He knew exactly who to call and how to get hold of them...after all, he'd already called his friends at school once before. All he had to do was decide who was going to be injured this time... No, injury wouldn't work. They couldn't drag her out of class even if both her parents were in the hospital. He'd have to go a step further...