Hello, readers! I thought it was time to once again step out of the fluff-zone. This is kind of AU and little weird, but I hope you like it!

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There were some parts of the key Yuma was not allowed to explore. Or so Astral said. But Yuma didn't like to do what he was told. Or so he said.

Yuma trusted Astral. Yuma felt that he never had any reason not to. They were friends. Yuma told Astral that he was his friend, even though Astral never reciprocated this to Yuma. Just thanked him for acknowledging him as such.

Since obtaining Zexal power, Yuma had obtained the ability to enter the key on his free will; a power which he had used several times now to ease his young mind's curiosity. He wanted to know exactly what went on inside that little tiny golden arrow. The first time he had gone inside of it was to help Astral. All the times after that, he just wanted to explore. The machine. That thick blue mist that seemingly went on forever.

It was shortly after his third visit inside of the key that Astral sternly warned him to only stay within a short distance from the machine, and that if he strayed off into unknown territory he could get hurt.

Or worse.

Astral's tone when he told Yuma this information was very serious, and also a bit threatening, but Yuma just laughed this off because Astral always over exaggerated.

On this particular night Yuma's curiosity overtook him again and he entered the key shortly before bedtime. He just wanted to take a quick look around to see if he could discover anything new that might help Astral. That's what Yuma really wanted to do. He wanted to help Astral. He wanted to help his friend.

While wandering amongst the mist, Yuma could have sworn he passed by a floating, rather large shard of glass. He quickly turned himself back around to see if this was true, and indeed it was.

In front of him appeared what looked like a broken mirror. Yuma hesitantly reached out a hand and touched the glass. Nothing happened. He stroked his fingertips up and down, watching as his reflection followed.

Something suddenly appeared on the glass, as if Yuma had breathed against it. But he hadn't. It happened again. The foggy stain briefly covered the glass before it faded, only to reappear again seconds later. Yuma tried to smudge the spot with his finger, but it still remained, as if it was inside of the glass. The breath mark reappeared again, this time much more dense. Yuma watched closely as letters began appearing inside of the foggy smudge. They were written backwards, and Yuma had to study the glass carefully before he realized what it said.

Yuma?

Yuma's eyes widened. The letters faded. The breath mark reappeared, this time bigger. In much larger letters, it spelt out:

Help!

Yuma's heartbeat quickened and he pressed his face completely against the glass. It took a few moments before his eyes adjusted to something.

A deeply saddened-looking couple appeared before him. A man with brown hair and a woman with golden hair and red eyes.

Oh, God…

"Mom! Dad!" Yuma shrieked, his voice filled with an odd combination of joy, grief, and terror. His thoughts were scrambling.

What did…? How did…? Who did…?

Yuma! Help us!

The message appeared again without Yuma noticing. He fought back tears as he gazed at his parents, trapped inside the glass slab.

"Dad, mom, can you hear me?" He called, tapping a fist against the glass.

They nodded 'yes'. Yuma's heart sank with slight relief.

"Don't worry!" He half yelled, half whispered. "I'm going to get you ou-

"Yuma?" A voice said from behind him. "What are you doing over here?"

Yuma turned to see Astral slowly approaching him.

"Astral?" He question somewhat angrily. "What's going on?"

Astral ignored him. "I told you to stay by the machine. Why didn't you listen?"

Astral's tone of voice frightened Yuma. He was being kind, but there was a slight cruelness. "…Did you do this?"

"Do what?" Astral peered creepily over Yuma's shoulder and gazed at his parent's reflection inside of the mirror. "Oh, this? It is alright, Yuma. They are just in there in case anything goes wrong."

"What?" Yuma was confused. He knew Astral may have had something to do with the disappearance of his parents, but he chose not to believe it.

"I was ordered by the Astral World to use a human to help me find the numbers. They suggested a human child for fear that an adult wouldn't be as naïve.""Where are you going with this…?" Yuma grumbled.

"The fact of the matter is, Yuma, that I trapped your parents in order to trap you. You needed to find them and I needed to find the numbers. I knew you would not assist me in my goal if you did not have one as well. If you misbehaved or did not help me complete my mission, I would destroy the mirror; but since you have been so cooperative, your parents have remained here." Astral explained nonchalantly. Yuma was frightened by his sudden change in personality.

"…You have been cooperative up until now, I should say." Astral added in suddenly. "I told you not to come over here." Astral's eyes narrowed dangerously and he held up a hand, focusing his powers towards the slab of glass.

Yuma's breathing quickened and he swallowed the lump in his throat. He quickly turned back towards his parents only to find that they had written another message to him on the mirror:

RUN!

Yuma turned as fast as his body would allow in the thick blue mist, trying to get away from the suddenly enraged blue spirit. He heard the sickening sound of glass being shattered and turned to see the scattered shards floating about. He screamed. He barely registered Astral charging towards him at full speed when everything suddenly went black.

Yuma awoke with a start. He fought to catch his breath and clutched his chest, finding the key still there around his neck. He forcefully removed it and threw it to the floor, clutching his head in his hands and bringing his knees to his chest.

"Yuma, are you alright?"

Yuma jumped at the sudden noise. He stared at Astral who was watching with worried eyes from across the room.

"Did you have a nightmare?" The blue ghost asked, slowly approaching him and floating beside him in a kneeling position. Yuma turned to the picture of his parents, then to Astral. Then to the picture. Then to Astral.

"Yeah. Yeah, it was just a nightmare."

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Like I said, WEIRD. This idea just came to me out of nowhere and I went with it. I hope you enjoyed it!