A little combination between Episodes 60 and 61, just to get some insight with Jaden! Not really any duels in this chapter, but oh well!~
Disclaimer: Mage of Hope doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh series, only the OCs!
Lost in broad daylight and seeing nothing but the light, Jaden pondered around, wondering what was happening. Last she recalled, she lost the duel against Aster, and the moment she lost, it felt as though a part of her...died.
"Your destiny has fallen right into my hands..." a mysterious, deep voice echoed within the light void. "No matter how much you struggle, you cannot escape!"
Frightened of the voice, Jaden wandered around the light void area, thinking, 'W-Where am I...? Where's the rest of my friends? I...I...'
"Kuri!"
Hearing the familiar cry, Jaden turned and was relieved to see her cute, adorable Winged Kuriboh flying towards her. "Winged Kuri-"
However, the moment, Jaden rushed to hug him like always, a static shock coursed throughout her body, blocking her from touching Winged Kuriboh. "Ow!" She gasped upon seeing Winged Kuriboh flinching from the touch before vanishing. "Winged Kuriboh? Kuriboh? KURI-"
"JADEN!"
"Eep!" Jaden, startled by Chazz's outburst, was snapped back into reality before remembering she was dueling Chazz. She still couldn't get over how she couldn't see any of her Duel Spirits anymore, and it's been at least, two or three weeks since it's happened.
"What are you zoning out in the middle of our duel?" questioned Chazz as he only had X-Cannon as his Monster on the field. "It's your turn!"
"R-right...My turn..." Hesitantly, Jaden drew her card, and reality hit her like a bag of bricks. She really couldn't see any of her cards even though they were right in front of her! Right now, she could only see blank white pieces of cards, and nothing more!
Ever since she lost against Aster, she couldn't really see anything with her cards. It was always the same blanks of white cards over and over. She knew they were the same cards in her deck, but she couldn't see them anymore! Worse, she couldn't even communicate with them!
Dropping her blank white cards, Jaden stared at her shaky hands, ignoring how everyone was startled by her actions. Even Chazz looked somewhat concerned for her.
Without saying a word, Jaden turned and ran out of the auditorium, forfeiting the duel. Why?! Why did this have to happen?! What happened that caused her to be unable to see her Duel Spirit friends anymore?! They were a part of her life, and suddenly, they're just...just...blank. Nothing. Just white! Even though she already visited Miss Fontaine in the infirmary weeks ago, she could still recall everything that happened on that day...
Flashback...
"What?! The Jaden Yuki?!"
"Yeah, it seems she can't duel anymore!"
"What's up with that?!"
"Move it along! Coming through!" cried out Syrus, pushing past the small crowd of Ra Yellows and Slifer Reds as they tried to eavesdrop near the infirmary doors to check on Jaden's current condition. Unfortunately, the combined forces of all of them were too much and the doors slammed opened, causing the crowd to collapse on the infirmary floor the moment the doors opened.
Noticing the uninvited number of intruders, Chazz coldly glared at them. "What are you idiots doing? Can't you see we're busy? Get out of here!"
Shaken by his tone of voice, the intruders except Syrus stood up and quickly ran off. "S-Sorry for intruding!"
Standing up, Syrus approached the rest of his friends, who were supervising over Jaden, who was currently having a cheek-up with Miss Fontaine. "What's going on? I heard Jaden can't duel now."
"It's true," spoke Chazz, taking out Jaden's deck from his coat pocket. "According to her, it sounds like all of her cards are just plain, white pieces of paper. She said that she can't hear the voices of her Duel Spirits, either."
Examining through each card in her deck, Syrus recognized each and every one of them, finding them in perfect condition. "Huh? They look fine to me, so why...?"
"Jaden's condition is perfectly healthy and fine," assured Fontaine. "But it seems that she's undergoing some sort of shock status after her duel with Aster Phoenix. The best thing she can do right now is take it easy and rest for a little bit."
"Jaden...are you alright?" asked Syrus, worried.
Nodding, Jaden got up and patted Syrus on the head. "I'm fine! I guess Aster really got to me, huh?" She gently took her deck back from Syrus and started walking away.
"Jaden, wait-!"
"Sorry, would it be alright if I was alone for a bit?" requested Jaden, stopping for a moment to give him a smile before leaving. Once she left the infirmary and was all alone, a gloomy expression exposed her sorrowful emotions as she wondered what to do.
Ever since then, Jaden's been moping ever the loss of her lack of ability to see Duel Spirits anymore. Even if she didn't talk with them all the time, she still enjoyed their company. She could feel their presence every single day, watching over and protecting her like family. But now, she felt cold even though her body was warm, and even at night, when she had no nightmares and Syrus and Hassleberry sleeping in her room, she still felt lonesome.
Once again, she was sitting near the ocean cliffs, staring out at the clouds, the skies, and far out at sea. She's been in a state of tranquility and loneliness, spending her time like this for a while, silently waiting for her ability to miraculously return.
For a brief moment, her hopes arose when she saw something resembling Winged Kuriboh, waving that cute little paw of his at her. "Winged Kuriboh!" she cried out, tears of joy nearly dripping from the corner of her eyes. However, upon taking a closer look, she saw it was nothing more than a fluffy, white cloud.
White, just like the color of her blank cards.
Sitting back on the rocks, Jaden took out her deck, not surprised that they were still blank. Despite that, she felt her hopes coming true...only to be crushed by a stupid, white cloud. The frustration of reality caused her tears to fall down and drip onto the blank cards.
"Winged Kuriboh...Flame Wingman...Avian...Burstinatrix...Clayman...Bubbleman...everyone..." she muttered, hiding her teary-expression in her arms, as if hiding her shame from her Duel Spirits, believing they were somewhere around, watching over her. She was afraid that if she showed her tears...they might be disappointment in her.
"Quit crying already!" shouted a familiar voice.
Surprised to hear Chazz's voice, Jaden looked up and saw Chazz standing near her. Sniffling, she wiped her tears away with her sleeve. "Chazz? What are you doing here?"
"...It's not like I care about you or anything!" lied Chazz, crossing his arms. "I just can't stand you being like this! How long are you going to be like this pathetic self of yours? You should still go to classes! You're worrying the others and it's making me sick! 'Oh, I hope Jaden's okay!' 'Oh, I hope she's alright!' 'Oh, she might get better if I give her my fried shrimp!' They keep saying all that sappy crap and it's getting really annoying!"
"...Sorry," apologized Jaden, looking away.
Gritting his teeth, it was taking every single ounce of his willpower not to beat some physical sense into Jaden. "Look, idiot! I'm serious! Give me a better answer than some apology!"
"...No matter what I do, I can't duel if I can't see my cards," replied Jaden sadly. "I'm not blind or anything. I can see you and the ocean and stuff like that just fine. But when it comes to dueling and my own deck, I can only see white. Sorry, I don't even know what to do."
Irritated, Chazz shouted, "Then, I know what to do! Let's duel! Right here, right now! I'll even go easy on you just this once! Come on, let's get our game on or something!"
Standing up, Jaden began walking away, not once turning back. "...Maybe later, okay?"
Unable to take anymore of this, Chazz rushed over, grabbed Jaden's shoulder, forcibly turned her around, and punched her straight in the face, knocking her down, much to her shock.
Chazz isn't like most boys, for most boys would never directly hit a girl. However, that didn't mean he'd enjoy punching girls, either. That punch was just to release his frustrations on Jaden, and damn, did it feel good!
Taking this chance to confront her directly, Chazz pinned Jaden down, who immediately started struggling. However, thanks to Chazz's superior strength over her, he won their little struggle and had her pinned underneath her, forcing her to listen to him.
"Just look at yourself!" yelled Chazz angrily, clutching her wrists at the sides of her head with both his hands. "It's only been one loss! So, you lost, like, one time since the semester started, and you're down in the gloom like some third-rate duelist?! Get over it! You've lost against Zane, and it wasn't this bad! Hell, you enjoyed the duel, so-"
"Let me go! Let me go-!"
"NO! You're gonna shut up and listen to me or else I'm gonna punch you again over and over until you stay quiet!" yelled Chazz. "So you lost the duel with Aster! Big deal! So you lost the ability to see Duel Spirits! Another big deal! They don't matter! So why don't you just snap out of it and-"
"Big deal? Big deal?!" snapped Jaden, angrily glaring at Chazz with a fierce look that he's never seen before. Her chocolate brown eyes flickered into golden as tears ran down her cheeks. "How could you say something like that?! Of course this is a big deal for me! I don't care that I lost against Aster! What I'm more worried is seeing my Duel Spirits! They're more important!"
Chazz was frozen with fear and shock the more he stared into Jaden's eyes. He didn't know why, but staring into those deep, golden eyes of hers caused some sort of fear triggering deep inside of him. As if he should watch his words. As if he should be the one to shut up and listen to her.
"You're sooooo lucky, Chazz!" spat Jaden with resentment in her tone. "And I don't mean you and your big ego and being rich and all! You get to see your Duel Spirits just fine! You're not the one who's lost the ability to see Duel Spirits! You have no idea what it's like, being lonely like this!"
"What are you talking about?!" Ignoring the fear that he forcibly shoved back inside, he increased his grip on her wrists, causing Jaden to winch in pain.
"You know what I'm talking about! You get to talk to Ojama Yellow and the others! You get to duel just fine! You get to sleep well and perfectly safe without any nightmares!" Jaden was practically sobbing at this point; eyes drippling with tears. "I-I don't get to see them anymore! I miss them! Winged Kuriboh, Flamey, Bursty, Avian, everyone! I-I really, really miss them! I wanna duel again!"
Upon hearing her words, Chazz felt some sort of sympathy and pity for Jaden. Yeah, he didn't tolerate the Ojama brothers at first, mostly because they were annoying as hell, but as time passed, he got used to their presence, even though they were still annoying. Back when he was a lousy, egotistic duelist, he was cold and cocky towards everyone, but with his Duel Spirits, he's never felt more warmer than before. Just the thought of losing them caused a little fear inside of him.
That experience Chazz never had is what Jaden's currently experiencing right now. Of course he didn't know how she felt.
Feeling his grip loosen, Jaden knocked Chazz back by clashing their heads together hard. Grimacing, Chazz released her as Jaden ran off, crying. He rubbed his forehead and saw Jaden heading off somewhere else.
'...Damn,' he thought, fishing his hands into his pockets. 'I really screwed things up, huh?'
Meanwhile...
In a dark room with little light, Sartorius checked over the tarot cards at his table, examining his fortune telling skills once more.
Turning over the middle card, Sartorius muttered, "The upright Wheel of Fate...truly unpredictable. Jaden is Aster's food of growth. After being defeated by Aster's deck, whom I fused my powers with, Jaden's soul should have been pure and white. She should have been the vanguard of controlling Duel Academy with my white light. But that didn't happen...She still has control over her soul, though her powers have greatly weakened."
Getting a new card and flipping it over, Sartorius was amused by the new results in his fortune telling predictions. "The Fool, the Pilgrim, the Wanderer. Perhaps there is another who shares the same powers as Jaden? This should be interesting..."
"Master Sartorius, we're almost to Duel Academy."
Upon hearing that announcement, the room lights flipped on, and Sartorius pulled the curtains out of his way to take view upon Duel Academy Island, where his fate would take upon that destination.
"Wonder what's for dinner tonight...?" muttered Hassleberry. As he was heading back towards the Slifer Red dorms, he heard sniffling and sobbing from the nearby forest. Curiosity overtook him as he decided to check out the noise.
Much to his shock, he found Jaden, all curled up and muffling her cries by covering her mouth and trembling like crazy.
"Jaden! Soldier, you alright?" Hassleberry kneeled down besides her. He was always rough and strict on boys, but he was taught to be much more politer and nicer to girls, like that one time when he helped an old lady cross the street.
Hassleberry couldn't exactly tell what Jaden was saying, as she was speaking too quickly and in gibberish while shaking. Clearly, she wasn't stable and too upset to be speaking properly, but he did manage to hear a few words.
"H-Hassleberry...Do you think I'm...stupid? And dumb? And an idiot?" sniffled Jaden.
"What?! No! Serge, you're the best duelist I've dueled yet!" assured Hassleberry. "Why would you think that?"
"B-Because I can't see my Duel Spirits anymore!" wailed Jaden, more tears pouring down her cheeks. "I-I must have done something wrong, right?! Was it because I eat more fried shrimp than I should have?! Because I teased Chazz too much?! Because I didn't do my homework and pranked Crowler a lot?! I don't know what to do..."
Hassleberry didn't know anything about Duel Spirits, so he didn't know how to help her in that department. Despite that, a friend was still a friend, and if Jaden needed her help, then damnit, he was going to help her!
"Jaden, I don't know what's going on, or why you can't duel anymore, but as your friend, I'll help you out!" assured Hassleberry, bringing her a grin. "So what if you can't see any dumb spirits anymore? They're probably a nuisance and troublesome anyways!"
Hassleberry could hardly be blamed for failing to understand duel spirits, or how important they are, since he's become Jaden's friend this year, but his words only made things worse and angered Jaden.
"Why would you even call them dumb?! And they're NEVER a nuisance! Not to me or anyone else!" yelled Jaden before storming off.
Dumbfounded, Hassleberry just stood there. "...Wait, what did I do?!"
In the Duel Spirit World...
Ever since it was discovered that Jaden lost the ability to communicate with Duel Spirits, things have gotten...bad with her Monsters. A lot of the Elemental Heroes harshly blamed Aster for Jaden's lost cause and felt heartbroken when they could nothing but watch their mistress cry every single night.
Recently, their approach towards the tenacious villains were more rougher than usual. Normally, they would just beat up any bad guy Duel Monsters in their city and send them to jail, but now, they were beating them up to the point where they were forced to go into hospitals.
They couldn't even go after Aster because they didn't know where he was. But more importantly, it was because they weren't allowed to hurt humans without good reason, and vengeance was never a good reason. Plus, Aster didn't know it, but he had protection with him; his own Duel Spirits, their rival heroes, the Destiny Heroes.
Everyone felt helpless, especially Flame Wingman, who actually crushed a building with his bare fists. Luckily, it was an old, abandoned building, and no damage was harmed to the rest of the buildings or the other civilians, but Flame Wingman had to be admitted to the hospital for his injured fists.
As for Winged Kuriboh, Jaden's most favorite and only Fairy-Type Monster, he tried countless times to visit Jaden and tried to get her attention, but there was an invisible force in the human world preventing him from interacting with her.
Upon returning with a flower he planned to give to Jaden, Winged Kuriboh flapped around sadly; tears forming at his eyes before he bawled softly. He truly did miss Jaden's company, and although he had to endure her suffocating hugs, he enjoyed them nevertheless.
That night...
Jaden didn't look back as she started the boat and took off from Duel Academy, glancing behind her shoulder as the wind wiped away the remainder of her tears. If she couldn't duel, she didn't deserve to stay in Duel Academy any longer.
Perhaps...it was better off if she left.
Short, but bitter sweet! Yeah, sorry if this seemed short to you guys, but I've got tests to study for, but I hope you guys enjoyed this!