Author's Note, 10/21/21: Okay, new development.
Turns out I'm about to add a lot more things in this version of the story than I originally intended; I might even need to do an entire rewrite of both Collapse of Dimensions and the Yugi VS Yuya Duel entirely in order to keep up. It's not a guarantee, but apologies in advance in case it does happen. I know it might be frustrating for me to barely upload and then suddenly come back with a declaration that I'm starting over again, but I look back at my first fics and find so many plot holes that need fixing, both large and small.
Basically, I forgot the Numeron Dragon and its prophecy existed lmao
In any case, I hope you guys understand the changes in case they do happen, also the original fics for Maiden's Journey, Yugi VS Yuya, and Collapse of Dimensions will still be up; I'd rather leave it there as a basis for comparison to this new version I'm creating.
Again, I hope you guys don't mind the possible chances of a rewrite.
Enjoy the chapter!
- Pebbles
"The name's Jaden Yuki; Nice to meet ya'!"
The petrified girl was still recovering as the young man introduced himself. She took a few moments to calm herself down before resuming her usual neutral expression. "Look, it's nice to meet you too, but I really have to go somewhere so I'll cut to the chase; Where the hell are we?", she asked.
"Hmm? Oh, we're in, uhh", the young man scratched his chin. "Uhh..."
"You don't know?"
"Huh? No no no; I do know!", the duelist explained himself.
"Thank goodness", Blue Maiden whispered to herself in relief.
"I just forgot."
The blue-haired girl stared at the man in front of her.
"..."
"..."
"Seriously?", deadpanned Blue Maiden.
"Okay, wait a moment; I remember buying a map from someone a few days ago. It's in my backpack so I can just look for it", Jaden suddenly offered as he lowered his backpack and opened it, a bunch of rolled papers suddenly bursting out.
"Are those...", asked Blue Maiden.
"I forgot I carry several maps with me", Jaden scratched his head awkwardly. "I travel a lot. Might take me a minute or two to find the right one, just hold on."
"Oh great", Blue Maiden turned away sarcastically.
However a ball of fur suddenly lunged toward the girl, scaring the avatar as she reflexively jumped back.
MEOW~!
"AHH-!"
"Pharaoh!", Jaden gasped. "Don't scare our visitor like that!"
"'P-Pharaoh'?", asked the girl, trying to keep her distance from the puffy animal.
The man stood up to grab hold the orange cat away from the girl. "Don't worry, he doesn't bite. He just has a lot of fleas."
That's not very reassuring, both Blue Maiden and the man's inner voice mused in their minds.
At least that explains the cat food, the girl sighed. She then looked at how Jaden struggled to open it with his teeth. Or at least I hope it does.
"There we go!", Jaden finally managed to open the lid as he wiped his lips. He then handed the opened can to Pharaoh, "Just make sure to not eat too much, I don't have a lot on me anymore."
Meow~, The cat simply purred back as it began eating obediently.
The red-jacket sighed before standing up, "Well, I take it you're not very fond of animals?"
"Hmm?", asked the girl, not even realizing Jaden was talking to her. She then turned away, "I never played with any when I was little. They never let animals inside my apartment, either."
"I see", Jaden took note of this. He had to make sure to not let Pharaoh spook the girl too much, at least. She already looked like she's gone through so much today.
Speaking of...
"Hey, I'm not sure if you know this, but I did see you fall down a blue portal earlier", Jaden spoke up again, this time giving a more concerned voice. The girl looked up to face him. "Going by how you're behaving I can assume it wasn't planned?"
The girl let out a small gasp. She didn't expect the sudden change in tone.
"And you're... not freaking out about it?", wondered the blue-haired avatar as she bent towards the red-jacket.
"Well, not really", Jaden admitted as he crossed his arms. It was almost as if he was reminiscing about something. "It may sound like I'm exaggerating, but I feel like I've seen enough things to say that I'm not surprised by much anymore."
The girl only grew confused by his words. He really did sound like he was exaggerating.
And yet, why did it feel like he was telling the truth?
Before she could ask anything else, however; A stream of dark fog suddenly raged in a circle around both teens, effectively trapping them inside a wall of dark wind.
The area surrounding them seemed to have lost saturation as everything grew in a tinge of gray.
The girl only grew scared, "Wha-!"
"This feeling...!", Jaden said with sudden gravity, the girl turning to look at him terrified. The red-jacket duelist took out his Duel Disk from his backpack, immediately activating it before slapping a monster card down the center, "Come on out, Elemental HERO Neos!"
From below the ground a light ray suddenly flashed brightly, a dust explosion blasting off behind both duelists as an humanoid monster suddenly soared above the ground, revealing itself to be a muscled white and red-colored alien.
Elemental HERO Neos; Level 7 LIGHT Warrior Normal Monster; 2500 ATK, 2000 DEF
It didn't take long before the dark fog formed around the pair once again in a circle. The girl couldn't help but be taken aback by the scene unfolding before her. What is happening?????
"Don't be scared, it's all going to be fine!", Jaden suddenly declared as he turned his head. The girl wanted to scream, yet her own mouth was betraying her. She couldn't even move.
Jaden took it as a sign of understanding, turning back to his monster. "Alright Neos, drive this darkness away with your galactic powers! Cosmic Crush!"
The monster did as it was told, suddenly dropping in altitude before slamming his hand into the ground in a chopping motion. The resulting attack shook the ground and drove the dark fog away, however both duelists were also blown aback and between the rubble.
This time Blue Maiden found her voice. "AHHHHHHH-!"
However Jaden suddenly appeared in front of her, cutting the girl's screams short as she carried her bridal-style. The avatar was forced to wrap her arms around his neck to secure herself, the red-jacket duelist dodging a few more falling rocks before landing safely in the ground.
"..."
Only pebbles remained in dropping as the man finally let go of the girl. The blue-haired avatar tried making sense of what was happening, however she only tripped on herself and fell on the ground in the process.
"...", Jaden didn't say anything at all. His face was obscured.
"...What... what is happening??", the girl tried asking herself, her head turned away from the red-jacket.
The area surrounding them returned to its original color.
She's scared, the man heard the same voice inside his head. You better do something about this.
I know, Jaden responded mentally.
"...Look, I know you might be scared at everything that's happening", Jaden approached the still-recovering girl. He then picked up Pharaoh, who was eating as if nothing had happened. "But you can be sure that you're safe with me. I'll make sure nothing happens to you until you get back home."
The girl's mind was a mess right now. A jumble of emotions and feelings circled around her head all at once, not a single one forming a coherent sentence.
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Hgrvdhajwnenrbfhahebbevdhdgahwhbrvrvsjqjaisudyehshwbajdydyegfhdiwowjandoxpwpjebryctwuwbrvdtaiwozoduehehdydgwhrbfycyehevrbfhxhsjebdhftfjaox
Ebdydhakxicyejwoxpalwbwbagxhentnybguvurjrntnynofodpwnebxhxhfbrbbgjcyajwnxgsbwnrbficoalennfucywnevdvxyakqnwoxppwntvtxizuehrvdxjebxyxywjebxi
However the girl managed to force out a rasped question, "...And what do you know about getting me back home? You don't even know where we are..."
"Actually, I do", the man revealed as he raised a map in his hand. The girl's eyes widened as her voice dropped.
"We're in Arizona, America. Nearby Marana."
Akira finally returned home from work, the usual stress from his position finally gone as he could rest for at least a few hours.
"Aoi, I'm back", Akira stated tiredly as he walked over to the table, placing several plastic bags on the wooden surface. "This time I brought takeout; Hopefully hamburgers are to your liking today!"
No response.
"Aoi?", Akira raised his head. Still no response.
Did she sleep?, asked Akira, walking over to Aoi's door. There was no sound at all coming from the other side.
Not even breathing.
"...Aoi?", asked Akira again, this time more worriedly. He knocked on the door several times, however there was still response from inside the room.
The older then sighed exasperatedly. He didn't want to do this, but right now he had no choice.
He took a hold of the room's doorknob. He'd normally respect Aoi's privacy, especially even more during these past few weeks since she seemed to need it the most.
He then took a breath.
"Aoi, I'm going to enter into your room", the brother stated out loud, before finally opening the door and entering inside:
And finding nothing at all.
"...What?", asked the brother.
He made a quick check of the room to realize several things were missing.
Aoi was one of them. The first thing he noticed.
Both her chair and VRAINS headset.
Both of her Decks.
And the nearby desk's front legs. The missing legs made it slant to the point where something atop could fall off. Fortunately nothing fell off the edge, but it still seemed like something was missing.
The older brother ran to the balcony to see if she somehow exited through there, but there was no dice, either. She could have also gone through the front exit; He recently shut off some of their robot assistant's functions to try and please his sister more, but there was now a good chance that she exited to the elevator now that the family's only form of security was gone.
However he soon realized that wasn't the case. He descended to the first floor and asked the receptionist if they ever saw his sister leave, but he only got no as an answer.
He was only growing more concerned. He returned to his apartment living room and tried thinking of every possibility while not panicking. Where could she have gone, where could she have gone...
"!"
The older brother then remembered something about her sister. She used to have a childhood friend that she just recently reunited with.
Miyu Sugisaki, if he recalled correctly.
He managed to have Aoi mention her friend's number in one of their conversations. The brother ran to his room and rummaged through his belongings, searching for a specific scrap of paper.
"Where is it, where is it..."
Ah, there it is!
He took the paper scrap with the inscribed number, before taking out his cellphone and dialing the listed combination. He then took a few moments to wait for an answer.
BEEP!
"Hello; This is the Sugisaki residence. How may I help you?"
An answer.
"Yes, good evening; This is Akira Zaizen speaking."
An audible gasp from the other side. It was probably Aoi's friend.
"Mr. Zaizen? How may I help you?"
The brother began explaining, "I apologize for calling at such a late time, but I've just returned from work to notice that Aoi was missing. She's friends with you so I figured that maybe she stayed over to your place without telling me..."
"Wait, she's gone missing?", asked the friend worriedly. Akira's expression turned sour. That didn't mean anything good.
"...You mean, she's not with you?"
"No sir, we've stopped talking a few weeks ago", explained the voice with despondence. "She insisted on having some time to herself after our last conversation, but I didn't think it would lead to this..."
"It's alright, there's no need to panic", the older brother quickly spoke up, although to be honest he felt like he needed to say that to himself more than anyone else. "I'll be sure to find Aoi safe and sound."
"W-Well alright then, I wish you good luck in finding her", the other voice said worriedly. The older brother could swear he heard the other voice bow her head.
"Thank you; Have a good evening", the brother finished before hanging up. He then rubbed the bridge of his nose as he tried considering any other options, the older brother headed towards the kitchen. Did she run off to Emma's apartment? Possibly. Maybe she had another friend?
No, other friends weren't possible. She only made contact with a select few, and most weren't even in Den City. Takeru returned to his hometown, and Yusaku...
The brother then remembered something else. Both his sister's chair and VRAINS headset were gone, along with both of her Decks.
Did she...?
She could have.
The older brother then took his car keys from the kitchen table, before exiting the living room and rushing towards the elevator. He then got inside and pressed the button leading to the first floor, before getting out his phone again and dialing a different number. This one answered much quicker.
"Y-yes, Mr. Zaizen?"
"Hayami, I want you to extract and replay all VRAINS' recent security feeds ranging from 6:00 AM to 10:05 PM", ordered the older Zaizen, the elevator doors finally opening to reveal the main foyer.
"H-Huh?", asked Hayami. "Not to contradict you or anything sir, but may I ask why?"
The older brother sighed, he had no choice. "My sister's gone missing, so I suspect something happened to her while inside VRAINS."
"What!?", asked Hayami. "B-but, I thought she no longer wanted to-"
"Me too, yet it's now a possibility", Akira rebutted as he got inside his car. "Now get the security feeds ready."
"O-on it, sir!", Hayami stuttered before hanging up, the sleek car now fully revved up as the older Zaizen began driving back to his corporation building.
SOL Technologies.
"We're... what?"
The blue-haired girl was at a loss for words.
...In America?
"Yep, unless I'm somehow getting it wrong", Jaden studied the piece of paper. "But this should be the correct map; Look it even has the piece of gum I left there a few days ago!"
The avatar wanted to faint.
There's no way I'm somehow not in Den City anymore, is there...?
She still managed to hear Jaden speak, "Well, at least we have somewhere to go. Let's get going now so that we don't end up sleeping outside in the desert. It gets very very cold around these parts."
However the red-jacket duelist soon noticed he wasn't being followed. He turned around to see Blue Maiden still sitting in a self-hugging position.
Her eyes seemed distant.
She seemed lost.
"Hey, there's no need to feel like you're on your own, or that you're all trapped with no way out", the girl once again heard the man approach her. "Trust me, I understand how it feels to be in your spot, but there's always a way out. So don't lose hope on me yet, not when I have a plan in motion."
The girl slowly looked up to see Jaden's outstretched hand against the bright sun, reaching out to grab her.
"Have a little faith in me, alright? We might have just met but I'll do anything to help someone in need", Jaden added as the girl just kept staring at him dumbfounded. "And that also counts you."
The girl really, really felt everything closed around her.
She should have never left home. She should have never gone into the network and end up here.
She's not even in her own country anymore.
I'm lost.
But... this Jaden. He seemed to be sincere, and it sounded nice to hear how he had a plan.
He might be saying the truth, after all...
So hesitantly, but surely, the avatar took Jaden's hand with hers.
Jaden's face turned to a beam as he helped the girl stand up, the two individuals finally looking at each other eye-to-eye.
"There we go", Jaden gave the girl a confident smile. "Glad to have you on board, captain."
"T-thanks...", the girl trailed off uneasily.
Jaden nodded in response, before he remembered something about the girl. It was one of the first things he noticed ever since he first met her, but now seemed like a good time to ask:
"By the way, are you a duelist? You seem to be one since you carry two Decks and a Duel Disk with you", the man asked curiously.
The girl stepped back reflexively, something that did not go unnoticed. "N-no I'm not a duelist; I haven't dueled before and I never will."
"Really?", asked Jaden. Another quick look and he could tell she was lying, but there had to be a reason for her to hide something like this.
Maybe now's not a good time to ask.
"Alright then, no worries", Jaden raised his hands up before turning away. "It was just a question I was curious about."
"Don't worry about it."
"Well in any case, we have to get moving, the sun's gonna set in a few hours", Jaden stated as the girl followed close behind, both individuals set out for what would eventually become an unforeseen adventure...
Nothing.
Nothing at all so far.
The older Zaizen brother studied the receiving feeds with interlocked hands as several videos kept replaying. There were several feeds shown in the screen at once, however the brother made sure to study each of them, one by one and all for all.
And yet he found nothing.
"Wait, Mr. Zaizen, look over there!", Hayami suddenly pointed to a security feed on the bottom-right corner of the screen, both her and Akira turning their heads at that direction:
It showed a blue-haired avatar falling through a portal with nearby error messages.
The CEO's eyes widened. That was Blue Maiden.
Aoi did enter the network.
"Show me the security infrastructure at the time of the departure", Akira raised his fingers, several workers behind him beginning to type away.
"It's all been consistent sir, the only error being a standard shutdown protocol misfire at around 9:45", one of the workers behind him stated.
That coincides with the time of the fall, the older brother mused.
Hayami suddenly heard a faint buzzing from her earpiece, the young woman clicking it to answer the call.
The woman freaked out several seconds after.
"Uhh, M-Mr. Zaizen? You have an order from the higher-ups", Hayami spoke up, the CEO suddenly straightening up. "They want to have a meeting with you right now."
A pause.
"..."
The man clenched his fists momentarily. "...Fine, I'll depart immediately. Don't lose any track of the feeds, and make sure to locate any possible places to where Aoi could have gone", Akira ordered as he stood up and left the room, Hayami only looking at him worriedly. "Do not disappoint."
"I-I'll try not to...", the young woman did a weak salutation.
The older Zaizen brother took several steps in a seemingly infinitely-long hallway before coming to a stop, the platform he was in suddenly connecting him to a large, virtual chess board under a yellow sky:
In front of several large white-chess piece hologram projections.
The higher-ups.
"Sirs, what do I owe the pleasure to meeting with you this time?", asked the CEO as he took a respectful bow.
"We have been notified of your recent attempts of revising today's security feeds outside of your scheduled work hours", explained Knight. "Is there a sound reason for your actions?"
Akira took a small breath, "Yes, my sister has recently gone missing within the network, so I've done my attempts to locate her."
"I can assume she has just gone missing today?", asked Knight.
"Affirmative."
"As per usual, any familiar matters you have are of no concern to us, however we do demand that they do not interfere with the company's prosperity", Rook added.
"Currently you're being let go with a minor warning, however if we notice that this problem of yours gets in the way of the company in the near future, there will be consequences we will have to resort to", Bishop stated.
"You can expect both a demotion and a cut in salary if your little dilemma becomes everyone else's problem", the Knight finished.
"That won't happen at all, sir", Akira bowed once again.
"Good; Then our meeting is finished", the Knight concluded, the field they were in suddenly darkening to pure black.
In a matter of seconds Akira was once again standing in the infinitely-long hallway.
"Mr. Zaizen?", asked Hayami, Akira once again in the security feeds room. "H-how did it go?"
"I was let go with a small warning", Akira sighed. "I can search as much as I want as long as this doesn't affect the company's performance."
"I see...", Hayami trailed off while scratching her cheek. "That's a little sad..."
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves; That's how the company has and will always operate", Akira spoke up. "And, at least I'm given permission to search for my sister as much as I want."
The feeds kept replaying Blue Maiden falling through a portal, several workers typing out any possible routes to where she could have gone. "I'll take that more than anything else."
A few hours of walking and it was already nighttime, the blue-haired avatar shivering as she hugged herself for added body heat.
Jaden took a notice of this as he turned around. He didn't seem to be too perturbed by the cold. "I think we can take a rest here. Marana's still some distance away and we need to have our energy replenished for the walk tomorrow. Not to mention how cold it got; I told you it can get real bad!"
The blue-haired girl slowly looked up at him. "D-did you b-bring any c-camping supplies?"
"Why of course! I may be stupid, but I'm no idiot!", Jaden beamed as he once again stopped to open his backpack, dropping his bag to the floor as he got out several tent pieces and a manual.
Blue Maiden furrowed her eyebrows. Last time she remembered, camp tents didn't require all that assembly.
"Feh, I still need help in making the tent, even after all the traveling I've done", Jaden scratched his head while studying the metallic pieces. His face then brightened as he looked at the girl, "Ooh, I know! You can help me out and build the tent together!"
He turned to see the girl sitting in a hugging position with a serious face.
"Orrrrr I guess not", Jaden trailed off awkwardly before turning around and continue trying to assemble the tent.
A few minutes into assembly and there was no progress. The girl could notice how Jaden was still struggling with the pieces, despite it being obvious how hard he was really trying.
"I swear I've gotten better at this before...", Jaden struggled with gritted teeth.
He soon found another hand holding the metallic bar, however.
He looked up to see Blue Maiden.
"You were doing it wrong", the girl said as she held the bar, her face shifted into concentration. She then held an accompanying piece and connected them both. "You were supposed to join these two together through the ends, not try twisting them."
Jaden's remained surprised as the girl soon found other pieces to join together. He noticed that her face was still serious, but it wasn't as cold as it was a few minutes ago.
The girl, on the other hand, found it a little curious how these pieces were assembled in comparison to how she remembered them. The tents she made when she was little were much more simpler to create, and only required a few buttons being pushed here and there.
She couldn't blame Jaden for struggling; Assembling this tent was like solving a puzzle.
The red-jacket duelist soon found the girl beginning to struggle, but from the colder temperatures.
"You can drop it; I think I can take it from here", spoke up the red-jacket duelist, taking ahold of the metallic piece the girl held in her hand. The avatar didn't struggle at all as she let Jaden finish, the girl gone back to her self-hugging position as she saw the duelist complete the tent.
"Are you... sure you're fine sleeping outside...?", asked the girl tiredly as she slowly began drifting away into unconsciousness, her vision growing blurry as she shifted inside the tent covers while Jaden sat outside. The duelist managed to start a small fire to keep them both warm, illuminating the area with a warm heat to combat the desert's low temperatures.
The sky above them featured a myriad of bright stars.
"I don't mind with the fire I already made, plus I can keep watch just in case something happens", Jaden reassured her as he waved his hand. "Remember, I told you I was gonna keep you safe, and I don't plan turning back on my word anytime soon."
That sounded familiar. The girl's eyes, while tired, still managed to widen slightly from Jaden's choice of words:
...
"Anyways!", Shoichi beamed suddenly, almost catching the girl off-guard. "How have you been doing as of recently?"
"Hmm?", asked Aoi, momentarily distracted by looking at Shoichi's brother carrying some plates. "Oh, I've been doing fine. Couldn't be any more excited to return to school."
"Really?", asked the man. He then leaned forward and whispered once again, "You're still feeling down, aren't you?"
The girl's eyes widened.
"Don't worry, I already said I wasn't gonna judge you the last time you vented, and I'm certainly not backing down on my word anytime soon", explained the man comfortingly. "I know you might feel trapped right now, but don't forget you always have people to you can rely on in order to recover."
...
Shoichi...
The girl's eyes began watering as she remembered not just him and his supportive words, but also everyone else she cared about. Her friends, her older brother, her home, Den City...
A faint image of Playmaker with his back turned suddenly appeared.
"...", Blue Maiden's eyes narrowed.
I really miss everyone...
The avatar then turned her head to try and prevent herself from making any loud sniffing noises. She needed to go to sleep already.
"..."
Meanwhile, back at SOL Technologies, Akira kept attentive at any relevant feeds that appeared on screen. None of the paths his subordinates came up with were conclusive, and so far none of the footage was decisive in determining where his sister went. He even contacted Emma and asked if Aoi was with her, but she also said no. Right now he had Emma's supervision on VRAINS as Ghost Girl, as well at SOL's top group of security.
And yet, no results.
He was only growing more worried by the second.
No, Aoi was a strong girl. She was more resistant then even she thought, Akira mused. He could only hope she could last just a little longer until he could find her.
The screens in front of him still showed no results.
"...I wish you a good night, Aoi", the older brother muttered.
Meanwhile, back at the desert, Jaden turned his head to see the sleeping girl. By the way she carried herself, he could definitely tell she was chained down by a mental obstacle of some sort.
He remembered how she tried hiding her identity as a duelist earlier.
What do you think is going on with her?, the same voice from within this head suddenly spoke up again.
"Yubel?", asked Jaden. "You're still awake?"
You fool. You forget that I'm a part of you that transcends common sense, the demon explained with a smirk, Jaden only staring at the flickering flame in front of him. If you're awake, it's obvious that I am, too.
"Maybe", Jaden shrugged his head. He then answered what Yubel told him, "And to be honest, I might have an idea of what she's onto."
Is that so?, pried the ghostly voice.
Jaden could only remember how he used to isolate himself in a similar manner back after returning to Duel Academy, after he completely fused with Yubel for the first time using Super Polymerization.
He would never forget how everyone tried bringing him back to the carefree student he once was.
"...", Jaden's eyes narrowed at the flame in front of him.
I see. So that's what you think of the girl, Yubel turned their head away as they studied the sleeping avatar. I wouldn't say it's completely off the mark; Both you and the new girl do share a few similarities in behavior.
"There has to be a reason for why she's like that",Jaden mused.
Maybe, but as of now you can't dig any deeper when it comes to her problems; You two have just met, after all, Yubel reasoned. They then turned to the girl's nearby Duel Disk.
However, would you say a Duel would help her get back in shape?, asked the demon.
The red-jacket duelist turned to the Duel Disk. "..."
"...I doubt it", the young man deduced, Yubel turning their head to look at him. "She was also hiding herself from dueling, too. If dueling would have really solved her problems, she would have probably already dueled a long time ago."
So you're saying that she either tried dueling to help herself to no avail..., Yubel trailed off.
"...Or that she has stopped dueling entirely", Jaden finished.
A small trace of movement from behind him.
Both individuals turned to the girl. She was still asleep.
"..."
"..."
The fire kept burning brightly.
"...Maybe it's better if we leave this for another day", Jaden concluded. "You are right in something; I've barely just met her."
Yubel nodded.
"I'll see if I can think of a way to get through to her eventually", the young man yawned. "I may be trying to get her back home, but I also want to help her in any way I can. Right now I need a nap, though. You don't mind staying awake to keep guard?"
Not at all, the demon responded.
"Cool, cool...", Jaden gave a tired smirk before turning to the girl one last time.
"Good night, Blue Maiden."
The young man then took off his jacket, covering his upper half with the red-hued clothing as he dozed off to sleep.
"..."
The demon turned their head to the lying avatar.
She was awake the entire time.
To say that the girl was unnerved is an understatement. She was speechless from what she just heard. It seemed as if Jaden was talking to someone else.
And he somehow already managed to get a grasp of what she was going through.
Was she that obvious? Or was he just very perceptive?
She then thought about how silly Jaden was from time to time, to how he thought she was a superhero:
Superheroine.
The girl mentally slapped herself. To how he used his teeth to open a cat of cat food. His personality always seemed to be changing between two sides of a coin.
However, something else kept telling her that Jaden was being sincere. The girl already had her share of dealing with smarmy, insincere individuals. It was either "friends", classmates, or other unassuming individuals; They always act friendly towards her and get close to her only to eventually ask for SOL's valuable data or technology. It was through repeated interactions like these that she learned to see through people's lies, as sad as some saw.
And yet Jaden...
...
"Look, I don't know how you think things but I'm not a superhero-!"
"Superheroine."
"Same thing! I'm not what you say you are, I'm just confused and scared and I don't even know where I am-!"
"Alright alright, calm down! If you're trying to find a way back home then don't worry, I can help you!"
"And don't even get close to me! I don't know what you're playing at but I won't follow you wherever you want me to go!"
"Okay look I'm not trying to get you do something malicious, I'm just trying to help you!"
...
"Hey, I'm not sure if you know this, but I did see you fall down a blue portal earlier", Jaden spoke up again, this time giving a more concerned voice. The girl looked up to face him. "Going by how you're behaving I can assume it wasn't planned?"
The girl let out a small gasp. She didn't expect the sudden change in tone.
"And you're... not freaking out about it?", wondered the blue-haired avatar as she bent towards the red-jacket.
"Well, not really", Jaden admitted as he crossed his arms. It was almost as if he was reminiscing about something. "It may sound like I'm exaggerating, but I feel like I've seen enough things to say that I'm not surprised by much anymore."
...
"...Look, I know you might be scared at everything that's happening", Jaden approached the still-recovering girl. He then picked up Pharaoh, who was eating as if nothing had happened. "But you can be sure that you're safe with me. I'll make sure nothing happens to you until you get back home."
...
"I'll see if I can think of a way to get through to her eventually", the young man yawned. "I may be trying to get her back home, but I also want to help her in any way I can."
...
The girl's eyes narrowed. This Jaden guy... he hasn't lied a single time ever since she first met him.
He seems to be the type to be a horrible liar, the girl concluded. It was humorous, but an honest person wasn't the worst thing she could have in a situation like this, especially if they went through great lengths just to protect her.
It was a relief, honestly, to have that type of person look out for her.
If she didn't know any better, she would even say he has gone through several adventures just like her. She didn't find it too unlikely, anyway.
"..."
Yubel finally turned away from the girl, the demon instead focused on both duelists' safety.
The girl, meanwhile, decided it was time to sleep, the avatar finally closing her eyes as she tried drifting into the unconscious.
I hope you're happy getting lost forever.
Because no one else is.
Her own thoughts again.
You've let everyone else down once again.
The girl was once more against her own feelings.
Your own ungratefulness caused others who still care about you to turn away from you, to the point where you disappeared into another country entirely. But this is what you wanted, right? To be somewhere else, do something new, to "try and escape yourself"?
The girl shifted in her tent covers.
However as much as you try, you can't escape what is set in stone. It doesn't matter how skilled you are in masking your feelings or in dueling, it doesn't matter how many people care about you; It is all wasted on a weak person like you. Someone like you doesn't deserve existence, and yet you're too feeble to even bring yourself to your own end. You would rather let yourself rot away slowly like a dying carcass, the passage of time slowly but consuming everything that barely remains of you.
The girl curled inwardly to try and comfort herself.
That is what you're only destined to do in the end; To decay all by yourself as your own weakness consumes you.
The girl tried her hardest to not cry. However the entire stress was building up to the very brink; Ending up in another place, meeting someone new who was slightly unsettling sometimes, her own feelings breaking her down; She couldn't take it anymore-
Meow~
The girl's eyes opened.
She slowly turned around in her covers to see Pharaoh awake and outside the tent, the cat's head tilted in a curious expression.
The girl couldn't help but tilt her head in the same direction.
The cat took this as a sign of acceptance, the furry animal approaching the girl before curling itself against her stomach and beginning to purr.
While at first the girl wanted to jump, she was calmed down by the animal's slowed movement, alongside the small vibrations the animal reverberated.
"Heheheh", The girl couldn't help but giggle at the animal's tired behavior. Her tears began drying from her cheeks. She was still afraid enough of the cat to not touch it, but she didn't find enough strength within her to shake the tired animal off. No way she was that heartless.
So she instead let Pharaoh lay beside her. So this was how having a pet was like, the girl wondered with a renewed smile. She completely dried her eyes off as her inner thoughts began melting away, her eyes only focused on the purring animal.
It doesn't matter what gets in your way, you will still end up destroying yoursel...
However the cat's purring interrupted the dark thought once again. The girl then remembered something else Jaden said earlier, an amusing image of the duelist trying to open a can of cat food with his teeth appearing in her mind:
"...He doesn't bite, but still has fleas, right?", the girl repeated to herself with a smile, the last of her negative thoughts finally disappearing. "I hope none get passed on to me when I wake up in the morning, then."
The girl then closed her eyes once more as she slowly drifted to sleep, this time succeeding as both her and Pharaoh laid to rest.
Yubel simply looked at the recent exchange with a small smirk.
Sleep well.
Count the minutes. Count the seconds.
The near-limitless being stared at the large, shifting bubble in front of it, the Numeron Dragon inside roaring in pain as several blue splotches infested the large sphere.
Only one dimension needs to be injected with inter-dimensional portals. One infected dimension soon spreads to many, and all will eventually collapse.
Count one dimension. Count them all.
The being continued staring at the shifting bubble. Soon I'll be let inside to devour it all.
Very soon...
Author's Note: Chapter 2 competed! With this we have began setting the groundwork for the revamped journey; Soon enough the story will begin picking up some real steam! Until then I hope you guys remain patient; Once again I apologize for the possible rewrite and until then, leave any questions, comments, or suggestions down below; I'll try responding them to the best of my abilities! Until then I hope you guys have a great day, and see you until the next entry!