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"Neo Space lies just beyond that star."
Judai finds it easier to be out at night these days, with fewer people around and less energy spent deciding what to do about them. As ever, when he falls asleep on a hill somewhere it's Yubel's duty to watch over him as he rests.
Lookout is nothing new. Aqua Dolphin emerging from Judai's deck is. He hovers in the air on the side of Judai opposite of Yubel, head tilted upward towards the sky.
Yubel watches him for a moment, to see if he says anything else. After a minute, he does. "In the space around the moon Io exists a link to another solar system, deeper into this galaxy. A wellspring of dark matter gives life to everything within, and everything within its reach we call Neo Space." He pauses. "It's a beautiful place. I do hope you see it someday."
Out here on the remote island of Duel Academia, there are hundreds if not thousands of stars visible in the sky. Yubel follows the direction of Aqua Dolphin's pointed finger, and still cannot guess which one he means. It irks them in a way, but so does a more important question. "Why are you telling me this?"
Aqua Dolphin turns his head, and Yubel knows he is examining them. "Yubel. You still bear the scars of the Light of Destruction."
Speaking of irksome. Yubel grumbles and looks away, though with their sight the gesture is just for show. "I always will. What is your point?"
"When he was young, Judai sent you into space hoping that the power of the gentle darkness would help you understand true justice." Aqua Dolphin’s eyes shine grey with fondness for their shared duelist. "The capsule containing your card and the capsule containing ours were twins, and we should have shared the same path. Instead, you became a victim of our greatest enemy."
And now the dolphin has crossed swiftly from irksome to vexing. It's only because of Judai's presence that Yubel doesn't snap out their next reply. "So did you tell me this as a form of pity? To laugh at my misfortune?"
Yubel doesn't fit with the Heroes. Judai keeps them in his deck nevertheless - a duelist's deck is their soul, and Yubel is now an intrinsic part of his - but they're aware of the lack of synergy they offer with the rest of his cards. Yubel no longer fears being left behind, because Judai has ensured so with all that he is, but they are undeniably a piece that fits ill with the rest.
"Had your journey been as intended, you would have been reborn in the warm blanket of Neo Space." Neos appears now, all hard muscle and crossed arms. "You deserve to know your birthright."
Yubel still has the restraint not to snap at them, but they can't help the sardonic laugh. "Birthright, you say? It was because I punished the people around Judai that I was set on that path."
They won't say they deserved to run into the Light of Destruction's torture, because they didn't. Even Judai at his worst had never gone quite so far as to claim such a dreadful thing outright. But fate sent Yubel into the Light's frigid grasp, far from the warmth of Neo Space, and they still have to live with the consequences. Calling Neo Space a birthright seems like a cruel joke on its citizens' part.
No, Yubel's path had not been the colorful swirls of Neo Space but cold unending fire in the void of space. Bright emptiness and unanswered pleas.
They feel Judai wake up even before they see him stir, the bond between their fused souls even quicker than their sight. It's too much to hope it isn't their fault he's woken like this, and with that bond Yubel knows the truth of things very well. "Judai," they say softly. "You can go back to sleep."
"Ugh…" Judai sits up and rubs sleep out of his eyes. "You're thinking too much, Yubel. I can feel it." He drawls his words, part out of affected childishness and part out of genuine drowsiness, but he isn't lying. He knows very well how Yubel is feeling right now.
All of a sudden Neos and the dolphin are nowhere to be found. Vexing doesn't even begin to describe it. "My apologies, Judai," Yubel says alone. "I'll be quieter now. You should rest."
But Judai's eyes remain open, and he leans back with his hands splayed out on the ground to support himself as he stares up at the sky. For a few moments, it's silent again. Then: "Hey, Yubel?"
And Yubel responds instantly. "Yes, Judai?"
"Does it…" Judai shifts slightly, tilting his head back and upside-down to look at Yubel behind him. "Does it hurt to look at the sky? After all that happened?"
Ah. So he knows. Yubel lowers themself to sit on the ground beside him, as best an incorporeal spirit can, and looks up at where they imagine Neo Space to be.
The bright emptiness is something that will always be with them, Yubel's only companion out in space for as long as it took them to shatter and reassemble into a twisted version of themself. But a small fragment of that place teeming with new life exists in Judai's deck, a field spell for Neos and his ilk. That place, too, is a part of Judai's soul.
It does nothing for Yubel, but they do admit the swirling colors are beautiful indeed. And now it exists alongside Yubel, closer than the Light ever will be again.
"Not like this," they say. "It is better to look at it with you."
"Oh." Judai lowers himself the rest of the way down to the ground to look up at the sky, hands crossed behind his head. Just for a little while, Yubel melts back into the warm depths of his soul to see the stars through his eyes.