We have another chapter! Whoo!

All right, I'm hoping to keep up the pace on this story. There's still a few more chapters until we get into the good stuff, but it'll come soon. Swanette and I seem to have found a system for actually accomplishing stuff, so hopefully the progress will continue :)

And I realize now that I forgot to thank my wonderful and supportive reviewers in the last chapter! So here I'd like to take a moment to thank ValinNight, Swanette, Melan Anime, Rapis-Razuri, and ptd163 for taking the time to review and for sticking with me for so long! I really do appreciate all of your support on this project! :D

I'd also like to thank Rapis-Razuri, who's back and beta-ing! :D

And now I'll let you get on with reading! :)

Dreamless Nightmare
Chapter 007

Saturday, January 22nd

Kali jerked awake, jumping to a sitting position while looking around. This was… Julian's room? She'd never been in there before, but the pressed shirts hanging on the closet door and the neatly lined shoes on a rack gave her a very strong indication. Freezing, she thought about what that meant and glanced down, realizing that she was tucked into his bed. Her brain shorted out.

She was lying in Julian's bed!

A noise sounded from the main room, snapping her out of her daydream. She looked towards the door to see if Julian was coming in to check on her. After a full minute passed with no sign of him, she slowly lifted his blanket and sniffed it. It really did smell like him. She giggled to herself, then slowly moved it aside so she could get up. Regardless of how nice it was in his bed, there was no point in staying here longer than she needed to.

Slowly, she shifted to stand while bracing the bed to prepare for a dizzy spell. A smile crossed her lips when she found there wasn't one this time, and she turned to walk out the bedroom door on socked feet. Julian must have taken her boots off before putting her to bed. She opened the door and walked out to find Julian seated on the sofa with a bottle of vitamin water in his hand. He looked up at the sound of the door and smiled. "Are you feeling all right?"

She nodded, returning the smile. "Yeah, thank you, Julian. Thanks for, um," she paused, pointing absently towards his bedroom. "You know, letting me use your bed."

His expression softened further. "Of course. I wasn't going to leave you on the sofa and I didn't dare enter Fleming's room." He chuckled, then gestured towards the television. "Especially since he lost in round two."

She walked over to take a seat next to him and found the tournament was on. She felt vomit rise in her throat. She had no idea there was a TV station covering it. Now she felt grateful for her mother's insistence that she wore a disguise. Shaking her head, she watched the boy with purple hair—Judas, she thought his name was—waved to the crowds after his round three victory. That meant he was in the finals against either Brianne or Seero.

Frowning, she took in the image and realized the sleeves of his shirt had tears and there were cuts on his cheek. The sensation of vomit returned as she slowly managed to ask, "Those injuries… Did I…?"

Julian set a hand on her shoulder before slowly nodding. "Yes… Your last move before passing out was activating Justice of VIII and inflicting three thousand points of damage to him. His injuries weren't terrible, so don't worry yourself. He gave a comment after your match saying that he was fine and he was only concerned for you."

She shifted to pull her knees to her chest, mumbling, "That was nice of him…"

Sighing, she thought about the last card she used. Justice of VIII. In actual tarot, it was used to signify that one should reflect on their past and the actions they took to get to where they were in present. From there, they could consider how future actions might take shape. It was a division of past and future. A chill ran down her spine as she got the sudden feeling that something big was just beginning.

Julian's voice broke through her thoughts as he said, "Look, Seero's dueling Judas in the finals. It'll be a turbo duel for the championship."

She looked up to see the MC hyping the match while a countdown to the finals ticked away on the screen. She bit her lip, hoping that her big brother would have better luck than she did against that boy. Then again, Seero didn't have her crippling handicap to interfere. He was a much better duelist in all regards, especially on the track. He would at least get passed his second turn.

Finally, the counter reached zero and the camera switched to an overhead view of the track, both Seero and Judas waiting at the starting line. Her brother wore that scrunched face that he always got when he was trying to concentrate, while Judas looked focused and ready to go. While she hadn't been conscious for long while she faced him, she did know that he was a fierce opponent. She had watched his duel in the first round and watched him win without breaking his cool. His demeanor painted him as something of a jerk, but then he supposedly expressed concern for her after she collapsed.

Oh, well. No point in it. She probably wouldn't see him again after today, anyway. All that mattered was cheering Seero on so he could get his sponsorship and go pro like he dreamed. She'd miss having her big brother at home, but she also wanted to support his dream. Maybe, one day in the future, she could learn to live with her headaches and go abroad and watch him duel. It would be cool to travel overseas and see the world one day.

Shaking her head, she turned back to the TV and watched as the lights counting towards the start of the match light up, one by one. The last one turned green, signaling the start as the two runners took off at breakneck speeds. Unlike when he dueled against her, Judas bolted forward, aiming for first turn. She cocked her head, wondering why he was anxious to go first while riding. She supposed it could have been because of Speed World II and getting first turn meant he could use it first.

Or maybe he was putting on a show, since Seero still beat him to it. No matter what Judas's intentions were, he was still second. She grinned as her big brother drew his hand and promptly threw a combo to synchro summon High King Arthur out of the gates. She cheered as he placed a facedown and ended his turn.

Judas drew, then played three facedowns and a single, level 3 tuner before ending his turn. She cocked her head. Did he get a really bad deal, or was this part of his strategy against Seero? She wished she knew more about other archetypes so she could be better at predicting moves. Pulling her phone out, she brought up her internet browser and put in a search for 'Emblem Archetype.' Her eyes widened at the master list, holding hundreds of cards, including matching spells and traps.

No wonder the MC hyped him up so much. Her own Gothic Tarot had twenty-six main cards based on the major arcane and the aces, plus a few other support cards. Apparently, in his three existing duels, Judas had shown a skill for switching his deck to suit his opponent's type.

A light touch prodded her shoulder, making her look up at Julian to see him nod towards the screen. The effect of one of Judas's speed spells allowed him to sacrifice cards off his deck in order to send a synchro monster back to the extra deck. She frowned. Like their father before them, Seero relied on his synchros. A quick glance at their life points revealed Seero to be at 7200, while Judas was at 6700. Seero was winning, but possibly not for much longer.

She turned back to her phone, not wanting to see how that would play out for her big brother. Even so, the sound of the MC's voice shouted out, "Ooh, a big hit for Seero Fudo! A total of 2300 battle damage this turn!"

That meant he was down to 4900 life points. He could turn it around. He'd done it before tons of times, after all. But then again, he never faced a foe who built a deck made specifically to fight his. Seero was stubborn and old fashioned in that he never liked to change his deck for a specific foe, only doing so when he found a new card or combo to try.

The familiar throb of a headache started to seep into her mind, making her set her phone down and reach up to massage her temples. It wasn't a big one. Probably just someone dueling within the block. She turned to Julian and asked, "Hey, do you have any ibuprofen? It's just a small headache, so I shouldn't need more than that."

He nodded and shifted to stand. "Of course, let me get it for you."

Jumping to her feet, she shook her head. "I'm not that helpless. Just tell me where it is, please?"

He nodded with a smile. "Of course. It's in the medicine cabinet in the guest bathroom."

She nodded her thanks and turned to the main bathroom in the suite. Although Julian had told his mother that he just needed something small, she insisted on getting him a two-bedroom unit with a master bathroom off his room. The spare bedroom had since become useful in the event that Fleming visited the city, as he often did since his schooling was done online through a charter.

Kali found her way inside and opened the mirror cabinet, located the correct bottle, and popped two of the small pills in her mouth. She frowned at her appearance in the mirror and realized that her match with Judas was the day before the finals, meaning that she'd been asleep almost twenty-four hours. She had been looking for an excuse to avoid watching the match. Leaning out the door, she called to Julian, "Hey, do you mind if I grab a quick shower? I just realized how long I'd been asleep and I feel gross."

This time, he did stand as he said, "Of course. Let me get you a towel and some clothes for you. I think Brianne left her shampoo here the last time she slept over."

Kali frowned as he walked into his bedroom. Was Brianne here that often? She couldn't really remember her not being home that much, but she did also seem to hang out with Fleming a lot. They were weird friends, but as long as he didn't hurt her or try anything more, she didn't care. He always seemed to be on strict 'just friends' terms with her, just like he was with Faerie and herself.

Shrugging, she decided it didn't matter as she waited for Julian to come back. When he did, he handed her a neatly folded stack of items, including a bland, grey towel, pajama pants, and a t-shirt. He looked away bashfully as he muttered, "The pants are probably too big for you, but it's all I have…"

She giggled at his rarely-shown embarrassed side and tucked the towel under her arm before unfolding the shirt. It fell past the middle of her thighs and she nodded, saying, "Just the shirt is fine. It's long enough for me."

He scratched his nose and looked away. "I could take you home, too."

She shook her head. "No, I'm still in my tournament clothes and that would defeat the purpose of wearing a mask. I'll have my mom bring some clothes over after the tournament and just hang here until then." Cocking her head, she added, "If that's okay?"

"Mm," he hummed, offering a sound of confirmation. "Of course you may. I wanted to watch the match, anyway, to be honest."

She grinned. "All right, then it's a deal! I'm going to wash up now," she said, pointing towards the bathroom behind her with a thumb over her shoulder. "Let me know how it goes?"

"Of course."

…

Monday, January 24th

Kali walked down the sidewalk in her teal and purple school uniform, giggling at her brother as he walked her to school. "So what, you didn't win the tournament. They said there weren't any scouts there, anyway."

He shrugged, his hands tucked into his jean pockets. "Yeah, still would've been nice to get a victory like that on my record."

She swung her bag absent-mindedly. "Yeah, but you still got second place. That still looks good since you're the same age as most high school graduates."

He turned to look at her. "Kali. It was a youth tournament. I was one of the oldest ones there."

"And I was one of the youngest, so nyah!" she said, sticking her tongue out for good measure. "We can still celebrate your second place tonight since Mom and Dad are both going to be home."

"Which means I'm making dinner," he countered playfully.

She shook her head. "Actually, Mom said she wanted to go out to celebrate, so don't cook. But she also wanted it to be a surprise, so pretend you don't know when she springs it on you tonight."

He laughed and set a hand on her shoulder before pulling her against him in a hug. "All right, I can do that. To be honest, I'm just glad you're okay. Stupid knucklehead."

She giggled at his playful tone and retorted, "Love you, too, big brother."

He finally released her from the hug and nudged her forward when the school came into sight. "All right, get going. I'll be back for you at the usual time."

She turned around in an energetic bounce before snapping a playful salute. "Yes, Sir!" Turning she ran inside before he could respond and slowed to walk once inside the halls as she made her way to her classroom.

The first bell rang just as she slid into her seat and tucked her bag on the shelf underneath. She reached out to log into her computer terminal as other students around her did the same and went about her daily routine of opening the files she would need for taking notes and pages they had been using for their current lesson.

The second bell sounded out, causing her to look up and find that her homeroom instructor hadn't arrived yet. She frowned and looked around the class to see similar confused expressions around her. Mr. Faris was usually extremely punctual. He was the instructor who would give detention to any student who was five seconds late. Besides that, he was usually nice and helpful towards students who showed evidence of trying to understand the material in his algebra classes.

Finally, a solid three minutes after the bell, the door opened and Mr. Faris walked in and stood by the podium, saying, "I'm sorry I'm late today, class. We have a new student and I had to take a little time to help him with paperwork." He glanced toward the door and motioned for someone to come inside. "Why don't you introduce yourself?"

A boy in the uniform walked in and stood up by the instructor. He gave an awkward bow and said, "Hi, everyone… My name is Judas Gethse. I'm a transfer from New York City. My parents have to travel for work, so I'll be staying here with my uncle."

Kali sat frozen in her seat. So much for never meeting him again. Apparently, the boy who won the tournament and felt her powers was now in her class. Now she just had to last the rest of the year without telling him that she was the one who injured him and passed out while dueling on live TV.

Mr. Faris set a hand on his shoulder and said, "Mr. Gethse is actually a year ahead of all of you, but due to transfer credits and such, he was placed back a year while attending classes at East Tops. Please do your best to welcome him to New Domino City." Turning to Judas, he gestured towards an empty seat and said, "Why don't you have a seat next to Miss Fudo?"

Judas nodded a confirmation and walked over before sliding into the booth-like seat next to her, then looked around to see how everyone else had their bags and put his like them. Mr. Faris continued, saying, "Miss Fudo, would you be so kind as to help Mr. Gethse settle in?"

She nodded and responded, "Yes, Sir!" Turning, she slid a little ways down the booth to help him with the computer terminal. "Hey, I'm Kali Fudo. Nice to meet you!"

He nodded with a smile on his face and she couldn't help but notice the bandage on his cheek. "I'm Judas Gethse, but you already knew that. Thanks for the help. My old school was, well, old school and we used paper and pencils."

She giggled and started showing him the basic functions before saying, "By the way, congrats for the win on Saturday."

He blinked and turned to look at her. "Oh… You saw that? Thanks…" he muttered, rubbing his neck awkwardly with a blush on his face.

She giggled. "You kind of beat my big brother in the finals."

A shocked expression fell on his face as he quickly muttered, "O-oh, I-I'm sorry-!"

Shaking her head, she cut him off by saying, "No hard feelings. He's cool with it, but he'd also like a rematch sometime."

His embarrassment slowly faded into a smile as he said, "I'd be happy to oblige that."

…

I'm Atticus Leonard Hogan. Not much to say about me. My sister already covered most of it. Sixteen, male, twin, hate my dad. I hate being at school, so I only really show up when there's exams or when I have to. Even with all of my absences, I'm still holding a better grade average than Faerie. She always gets pissy when the topic comes up. It's kinda funny, though. At the same time, I'd probably kill anyone who'd lay a hand on my sisters.

Anyway, I try to avoid being at home, especially when my dad is in town. I'll usually try to hang out with my fellow delinquent, Kaiser. I don't even know his last name. We just go to underground duels together because it's dull as hell with no one to talk to when you're not dueling.

I haven't found anything that I really want to do, but I figure I might was well save up money from these duels so I can move out as soon as I finish high school.

…

Friday, January 28th

Atticus followed Kaiser down the dirty ramp in the sketchy part of town and down into an abandoned parking garage. It was their favourite place to duel for cash and he often found himself spending a great deal of time there. In the time since he'd started going with Kaiser, he'd learned that the other teen had his back if a fight broke out, which led him to cover his back. They both went to Duel Academy, though Kaiser was a year ahead of him, and they both skipped frequently to go underground.

He still didn't know a lot about Kaiser, but all that mattered was that his mother knew Kaiser was his 'friend' from school whom he would 'hangout' with after school often. He didn't really care, either. He had a relationship with the other teen where they could go weeks without talking and neither of them would care. It was mostly a mutual benefit for underground dueling.

As he approached the makeshift dueling rings, he froze as he took in the sight of Blackwing - Silverwind the Ascendant hovering over one of the fields. Blackwings were somewhat outdated as an archetype, so seeing them always made him think of the worst. Slowly, he brought his attention to the duelist controlling the monster to find a girl about his age. From what he could tell from her back, she wore a long, black jacket and her black hair was tied in a simple ponytail. Streaks of red, white, and pink ran through her locks at seemingly random spots with no order behind their placement.

At least it wasn't his father.

He could handle a teenage girl. He'd been dealing with them since he became a teenager. Ever since June 12th three and a half years ago, when he and Faerie had both turned thirteen. From the looks of this girl, she was causal and relaxed. Regardless, this was a golden opportunity to see how he fared against Blackwings. A good opportunity to see how he would perform in a duel against his father. Granted, this girl wouldn't have Black Feather Dragon, but it'd be a start.

Fortunate timing, too, as her duel looked about to end with her next attack.

A smirk crossed his lips as he loaded his deck into his duel disk and walked over to where her opponent was now watching his final life points tick away. He reached out, set a hand on the guy's shoulder, and shoved him aside before addressing the girl, "I'll be your next opponent."

A smile crossed her lips as she shifted to reload her deck. "All right, I'm game. What's your name and price?"

He took his preferred stance as he replied, "Atticus. No price."

Her eyebrow rose as she collected from the loser. "Oh? And why not?"

Shrugging casually, he gave a short reply, "This is personal."

Her grin returned as she retorted, "I'm pretty sure we've never met, but I'll bite. I'm Rose, by the way."

Whoo! We finally meet Judas and Rose! Only took seven chapters to properly introduce them both :P Anyway, I did say it'll be a few more chapters before it gets good, but there's still some more groundwork to be laid down. With that in mind, please note that every scene coming up will be important ;)

I hope you liked it and please review!

-Valk