Title: Love is Blind
Genre: romance, hurt/comfort
Rating: T for language, mild violence, and suggested themes
Pairings: JohanXJudai (hinted other pairings)
Summary: When Johan goes back to North Academy, he confesses to Judai just before he leaves. He then gets word at North Academy that Judai has fallen into a coma. Johan rushes to Duel Academy in hopes that Judai will awaken. Judai does, but when he awakens from his coma, he's blind! Is his blindness permanent or temporary? Can Johan cure it? And is it just blindness, or is Judai's life in jeopardy?
Me: This is the next chapter in the story!
Lucy: We get to learn a bit about the Duldum, about where Judai is, and about why Duldum is so feared by the Duel spirits!
Me: So, please enjoy!
Chapter Five: Duldum
Sapphire twitched as a noise caught his ear.
It sounded almost like something was jumping from the ceiling towards them. It was rushing ever so much closer to them with each and every passing second.
"Johan! Watch out!" Sapphire Pegasus rushed at the bluenette and pushed him out of the way. Amethyst Cat rushed right at Johan's heels right as a loud explosion came from right where Johan was standing.
Debris and giant pieces of the floor came flying from the cracks that formed in the tiled ground.
Johan threw his arms up to protect himself from the onslaught of floor. Sapphire Pegasus stood before him sideways, using his body as a shield against the new creature that arrived.
The dust that formed started to clear, giving Johan the silhouette of a young woman. The young woman had landed on her hands and knees, and she was slowly rising into a standing position. She jolted her spine back, and a loud crack followed. Johan winced at the noise. He watched as the young woman's shadow snapped her neck from left to right, brushing off pieces of the floor that had clung to her body when she landed.
When the dust finally cleared, Johan got a full image of the young woman.
She was tall, about 5'7", about six inches taller than Johan was. Her body was skinny and slender, and her chest was larger than any that Johan had ever seen. She looked strong, but at the same time, she wasn't muscle-bound. In fact, it looked as if she barely had muscles. Her skin was the color of snow, her plump lips painted a dark purple-pink. Her hair was long and fell to her ankles, her bangs almost none existent, falling at a part in the middle of her forehead and sliding down to her chin.
As for her clothes, she was dressed in what Johan would call a "S&M"(1) outfit. She had a dark navy one-piece on that was closed in the front by what appeared to be strings. The outfit was sleeveless, and it reminded Johan of a bathing suit, in a way. The chest and stomach part of the outfit looked like it was going to pop open at any minute. Her legs were covered with what looked like long gray boots made out of cloth with dark navy strings wrapped around them in criss-cross patterns. On her hands were long navy fingerless gloves, including a bunch of bangles and some bracelets and armbands of silver and black. Her face was clear, except for a bunch of white-ivory bandages that covered both of her eyes from view. The final thing that Johan saw was a thick black choker that appeared almost like a belt with a small bell hanging from the front of it around the young woman's throat.
Sapphire Pegasus lowered himself slightly, his lips drawing back into a snarl. "Duldum..." he spat bitterly.
Johan snapped into full awareness at the name. "Dul...dum?" he echoed. His eyes scanned the young woman up and down. She was standing before the three of them, her bandaged "eyes" scanning them up and down. How on earth can she see like that? Johan thought.
"You three," the young woman, apparently named Duldum, according to Sapphire Pegasus, stated. "What are you doing here?"
Johan forced himself to be brave. "We have a question for you!" he called.
Sapphire Pegasus glanced over his shoulder in shock. "Johan," he whispered. Duldum lifted her head up and seemed to lock "eyes" with Johan. Her face didn't move away from his general direction.
"Where is Judai? Did you bring him in this far into his mind?" Johan called.
Duldum didn't answer Johan right away. Instead, she brought her hand up and licked it the way a cat would if it were cleaning its paws after a meal. She did this for a few moments, totally ignoring the presence of the three newcomers.
When the silverette finally finished, she turned her face back in the general direction of the three. Johan noticed that she seemed almost bored with them. He would be able to tell better if he could see her eyes.
"What do you guys want with Judai?" Duldum asked.
Johan flinched slightly. Her voice, her tone, sounded so cold all of a sudden. It was almost as if she was angry with him for something. The bluenette noticed that her pink-purple lips were pulled into a tight line.
"We've come to take him back! Back to where he really belongs!" Johan snapped. Duldum was silent after that. Johan took that as his cue to continue speaking. "Why did you bring Judai in here? Why did you bring his soul this far into his mind?"
"Why?" Duldum mirrored the question. She took a step towards Johan, lips curling into a sadistic smile. "Isn't that obvious?" Sapphire Pegasus and Amethyst Cat jumped before Johan, snarling threateningly at Duldum. "It's so much easier to keep an eye on him..." Duldum's hands snapped, her fingers becoming clawed. "When he's here with Duldum-!"
"Johan!" Sapphire ducked down and scooped up Johan so that the bluenette was his back. Johan glanced back and saw Duldum leap into the air, her newly formed claws rushing down towards him. Sapphire rushed forward, managing to get Johan out of the way before Duldum's claws managed to end his young life.
Duldum cursed loudly as Sapphire rushed towards the dark doorway with Johan on his back. She turned and saw Amethyst Cat coming to challenge her, but in the last minute, the purple panther turned and rushed towards the doorway, which Johan and Sapphire Pegasus had already vanished behind.
Duldum stood silently for what felt like countless hours. She forced her claws to vanish back into slender fingers. She waited for a few more seconds, licking her wrist like a cat again, and then she decided to pursue after the "intruders".
"Sapphire, where's Amethyst?" Johan called. He had glanced back a short while ago and noticed that Amethyst Cat wasn't anywhere that he could see her.
Once Sapphire Pegasus and Johan had escaped from the room where Duldum was, they had rushed up a large flight of winding stairs that seemed to never end. It was the only thing that they could do after the moment they left the room. For some bizarre reason, Sapphire Pegasus wasn't able to fly in Judai's mind. He had tried, and it hadn't worked.
"I don't know," Sapphire Pegasus admitted. "Judai's mind is so distorted because of his comatose state that it must have changed the moment we were seperated. She must be in another part of Judai's mind."
Johan fell silent. He was worried for his friend. After meeting Duldum, it was pretty obvious that she didn't want any of them to find Judai. And Johan knew that Duldum would probably do anything to make sure they stayed away. Even if that included killing them. Johan didn't want Amethyst being alone. If she was, then...
"Heh heh..."
Johan glanced up and saw a young man that looked exactly like Judai standing at the top of the stairs that they were running up. He felt his heart skip with joy, but when he remembered what Sapphire had said about Twisted Memories, he let his hopes die back down.
The moment Sapphire Pegasus reached the top of the stairs, Johan climbed off his back. The large white unicorn turned towards the Twisted Memory and shot another attack at it from his horn.
The Twisted Memory was stuck in the head again and thrown to the ground, more blood gushing from its head than the last Twisted Memory's had. Its face became the same distorted look, and then it turned into dust and was blown away.
Johan sighed sadly. "Judai, where are you?"
"Don't give up hope, Johan," Sapphire Pegasus said. His nose nuzzled Johan's cheek gently. "We'll find him. This place is all Judai's mind. He has to be here somewhere."
Johan nodded slowly. He knew Sapphire Pegasus was right, but he couldn't quell the feeling in his chest that something was wrong. He knew Judai was here somewhere, but he also had a terrible feeling that he wasn't going to be able to find Judai easily. He also felt that he had... already found Judai, but hadn't seen him.
"Ooh. So Sapphire can tell Twisted Memories from Duldum's precious Judai?"
Johan flinched at the familiar voice. He glanced to the ceiling and saw Duldum clinging into the plaster with her nails. She let it go and tumbled to the ground, managing to land gracefully to her feet a few meters before Sapphire Pegasus and Johan. She stretched and then turned her full attention to the two.
"Duldum is surprised that Bluey made it this far. But then again, Bluey wouldn't be able to do it without Sapphire. Bluey would be tricked by one of Duldum's precious Judai's twisted memories," the silver-haired young woman said.
Sapphire Pegasus took a single step before Johan and snorted threateningly. Duldum seemed to raise an unseen eyebrow. She took a few steps forward, towards Sapphire Pegasus.
When she finally reached him, she leaned forward and sniffed around his throat and chest. Sapphire Pegasus tried to draw away, but for some reason, he couldn't move too far away. Duldum stopped sniffing him and drew back, her bandaged eyes staring up. She looked as if she were trying to lock eyes with him.
"Hey," she started. She sounded confused. "Why is Sapphire serving a human like this?"
"W-what?" Sapphire Pegasus backed up slightly.
Duldum lifted her hand into the air and made her claws appear. "Now Sapphire will never be able to come back to the Duel Monster's world because he has a master to serve," she said, more to herself than to the other two.
Before anyone could speak, Duldum swung her claws forward and slashed them across Sapphire Pegasus's chest.
The white horse gagged as his chest was torn open. Metallic blood came from the claw wounds that appeared. A white hot pain surged through his body as he took a few steps backwards.
Sapphire was slowly losing consciousness. He stumbled and hit the railing of the stairs, which forced his knees to buckle. He collapsed backwards, flipped over the railing, and went vanishing down into the darkness that was the stairwell.
Johan gasped in horror and rushed to the edge of the stairs. "SAPPHIRE PEGASUS-!" he hollered. Fear surged through his body. He felt weak, all of a sudden. One of his friends was-
Jesse shook his head. If he had faith, then maybe his friend would be all right.
Though his legs were trembling, Johan tried to stand. He had to find out where Judai was. Judai was the one whose life was in danger. Sapphire Pegasus was strong. He would survive a weak attack like that.
Johan suddenly found himself with his head slammed down on the railing to the balcony, on his knees, a white hot pain surging through the back of his head. He felt a hand pressed on his head, long claws intertwining in his hair. He moaned in pain, weakly glancing back. He spotted Duldum with her hand entangled in his hair, shoving his head down. Her left boot was on his lower back, digging into his spine.
"What are you doing here?" Duldum asked.
She shifted her foot so that the heel of her boot dug into Johan's spine even further. Johan moaned/cried out in agony. He weakly forced himself to glance over his shoulder at at Duldum's bandaged eyes.
"I-I'm here to rescue Judai!" Johan spat angrily. "B-because I know-"
He stopped and glanced to the ground and thought of what had happened just before he left for North Academy. He thought about what Judai had looked like. His poor, sweet Judai. He closed his eyes and gulped.
"I-I know that Judai wants to see me," Johan whispered.
Duldum stiffened. She twitched slightly, and Johan thought she was going to start crying. Her claws tightened around his head, not enough to hurt him, but enough to let him know that she was going crazy very quickly. Johan could see her biting her lower lip, and he could see that she was starting to draw blood.
"LIAR-!" Duldum picked up Johan and hurled him away from the stairs, further onto the balcony.
Johan grunted as his head hit the wall hard, and he saw stars. He felt dizzy for a few seconds, and it took a moment for his vision to return to normal. Before he could slid to the ground, however, Duldum's hand wrapped around his throat and slammed him high, his feet inches from the ground.
Johan gagged as a thin line of saliva dripped from his lips as a result of being choked. He glanced down and saw Duldum looking towards him. Her grit teeth was enough to let him know that she was glaring at him behind those bandages.
"Stop lying!" Duldum snapped. "How do you know what Judai wants? If anything..."
Duldum shivered, her eyes narrowing. Johan could feel his consciousness starting to slip as a result of not getting enough oxygen. He forced himself not to fall unconscious. He had to find Judai!
"If anything, Judai wants to forget about you!"
Johan felt like his heart had stopped. The mere thought of Judai forgetting about him hurt. He couldn't imagine Judai not knowing who he was. It was almost too much to bear even the thought. Duldum slammed Johan hard against the wall.
"It's Bluey's fault that Duldum's precious Judai was crying!" she yelled. "Duldum's precious Judai was crying each night for you! 'Johan...Johan!' he'd cry all night, tears streaming from his eyes! It was Bluey's fault that Duldum's precious Judai almost died in the cold! It's Bluey's fault that Duldum's precious Judai is stuck like this! And now..."
Duldum raised his free hand and made her claws appear. They seemed to glisten in the light of the room he was in.
"Duldum is going to kill Bluey so Bluey can't hurt Duldum's precious Judai anymore..."
Johan grunted in pain as he was thrown against the wall for what must have been the hundredth time. He slid to the ground, but didn't give himself any time to rest. Duldum might come and attack at any second. He glanced up and saw the silver-haired young woman standing about two meters away from him.
Duldum lifted her hand and started rubbing it against her cheek and her ear, as if she was trying to clean her face the way a cat would. She was even making small noises that Johan noticed could be slightly similar to a cat.
"Wow," Johan laughed softly. "You act just like a cat, you know?"
Duldum stopped and looked over to Johan. Johan really wished that her eyes were not covered by bandages, that way he could see her eyes and know what her full expression was. He could tell slightly by her actions that she must have been confused by his statement.
"Duldum is a cat," she said. "Always has been one, always will be."
Johan blinked in confusion. She's a cat? he thought. Johan chose not to show his surprise. He covered it up with a grin. "Is that so?" he asked with a small, amused chuckle. "Well then, I'll have to have a talk with Judai about what you did to me. You weren't raised very well, I see. You should know better than to hurt Judai's-"
"And what does Bluey think he is to Duldum's precious Judai?" Duldum interrupted.
"I know I mean more to Judai than just a friend," Johan stated honestly. His hand went to his heart. He could feel it thumping gently beneath his hand. "Why else would he be so depressed when I left?"
Dudlum laughed nastily. "Bluey is such an ego maniac," she said.
Her nimble fingers flew to the bell that hung from her choker collar. She batted it gently between her index and middle finger. It jingled softly, the noise seeming to echo all around.
"Bluey doesn't even see that Duldum's precious Judai has been here the whole time."
"W-what?" Johan's voice was almost a breath. He looked over and saw Duldum still messing around with the bell. It jingled softly, and he almost noticed that the jingle sounded strange. Almost as if... it were a voice.
Johan suddenly understood. "Judai's inside the bell!"
Duldum's pink-purple lips drew back into a smirk. "Seems Bluey is quicker than Duldum thought," she said. Her fingers became claws again the moment she stopped playing with the bell where Judai's mind, or rather, his consciousness, was.
Johan narrowed his eyes as Duldum prepared to strike. He shivered and wondered what he was going to do. How could he rescue Judai if Judai was right with Duldum? And what was Duldum to Judai? Nothing was making any sense to him. Johan felt his head spinning. What was he going to do? What could he do?
"Die, Bluey!"
Johan glanced up and saw the claws rushing towards him. He collapsed against the wall and closed his eyes. There was nothing he could do. Maybe the worst he would get was so wounded that he would return to his own body. If that was the case, then maybe he could find a way to get back into Judai's mind and rescue him.
The claws never came.
Instead, Johan heard something come right beside him and stop the claws.
Johan heard Duldum gasp in horror and stop her attack. She slid to her feet and drew her claws back. Johan stiffened when he felt an arm drape across his chest, pulling him close. He looked back and saw a purple and black arm with a thick brown claw wrapping around him, another hand just like it reaching towards Duldum.
"No no no, Duldum," an all too familiar voice chimed.
Yubel! Johan thought in shock.
He knew that the Duel spirit had become Judai's guardian, but Yubel brought nothing but bad memories for him. But it seemed that Yubel was rescuing him.
"You can not kill this boy, Duldum," Yubel's voice called from what seemed to be behind the wall. Johan could feel the wall sliding over his body as if he were being swallowed by Jell-O. "If you do, do you think Judai would be happy with it? Do you want to be the one responsible for making Judai cry?"
Duldum fell silent and didn't move. Johan finally couldn't see her as he was dragged into the wall bu Yubel's arms, and he was dragged into the darkness.
Me: Johan was rescued by Yubel! But, what does Yubel want with him? (1) Slave and Master. 'Nuff said.
Lucy: And we also know that Judai's soul, or rather, where he is, is trapped inside Duldum's choker collar. Well, actually, it's in the tag around the collar, but it's still on the collar!
Me: Will Johan be able to rescue Judai in time? And is Sapphire Pegasus all right?
Lucy: Also a kinda side note, Duldum doesn't really make too much of an appearance in this story! She's only in for a few more chapters, but she does play a big role, which is why she's here!
Me: Review, review, review, and we shall update as soon as we can!