Welcome to Gaia! ::

((Alright Kaydah... we'll just have to figure out how it'd work into the rp. ^^;
That aside, times that everyone can be on sound good....
So I'll start the first post! Post when you want, remember where you are in the rp.... and have fun with it! Whatever seems right to you, go for it! And if you have any questions, just ask in the rp or over pm. heart ))

It was over a month now since Atemu had left.... And though Yugi put on a brave face, smiled with a confidence his other half had given him, and continued as he always had, there was a crushing ache in his heart.
Atemu, his other half, was gone. And without him, everything seemed so empty. No one to talk to on those sleepless nights, no one to stand by his side, supporting him through everything. No more of those gentle smiles few ever had the honor of seeing.... Yugi closed his eyes, shaking his head.
Now wasn't the time to dwell on it. He opened his eyes, determined, and stared feircly at his homework.... Social studies.
They were studying ancient egypt.
.....
Someone hated him up there.


Yugi sighed softly, brushing silky blond bangs away from large purple eyes. I need a break, he decided determinedly, closing his book and leaning back to stretch.
How many breaks had he taken since it all ended, he wondered? It would be better to forget, but.... It was never easy to forget one you loved....
It was strange. He was gone, he knew he was gone.... yet he still felt him....
Yugi berated himself. No, he had to let it go.... such thoughts were no more then wishful thinking. He had seen it, felt him, really felt him, the first time.... as he was forced to say goodbye.


Meanwhile....

Egypt.
A land of swirling sand and desert, of the great Nile and awe-inspiring pyramids, and of an ancient race that accomplished things that now seem unbelievable to man.... and thats just the things they know of.
There really was no greater place for such a project. Here, one of the greatest civilizations ever known flourished, despite the desert.... and now, it was the obviously perfect location for ATZ Corp's Project Atemu.

However, one would have trouble finding it. After all, most of the huge, technologically advanced structure was deep under the sand. Kept by thousands of workers, scientists, technicians.... It was ATZ Corp's largest and most secretive projects.
Each worker was under oath not to disclose what they saw, and only the Board of Directors themselves knew of it of those who didn't.

The place was filled with rooms- rooms with games, training rooms, cafeteria, laboratories, private quarters....
And THAT room. Where HE was.... Atemu himself.


((**coughs** Well, I hope its somewhat decent for a first post. ^.^;; Have fun!))

It's not that Seto missed Atem. It's not as though he had time to miss the man.

Just because he'd been his greatest rival.
One of the only rivals that were worth a second glance (along with Yugi and a certain Jounouchi Katsuya.)
Just because he'd been the only other person he could trust to save Mokuba.
Or save him.
Just because he and Yugi had been the only people who bothered even trying to figure him out.
Just because he was the only person who might be able to understand him, just a little...

No, that meant nothing.

The corporate's fingers were shaking imperceptively, and he glared at the screen as the wrong letters came up- as though he'd accidentally hit the i intending to hit the u. Or the f intending to hit the g. His keyboard must be acting up.

...Right.

That was it.

He didn't have time to miss a ghost.

Honda was watching the trio with a raised eyebrow. He was sitting above them all, sideways on the couch. His legs were crossed, slug over the armrest. His left hand held a pencil in his closed fist, elbow against the back of the sofa, cheek against his knuckles. His right hand was sitting on the open textbook in his lap.

He sighed again for the thousandth time. Yes, Atem (and Bakura) were gone now. Yes, it was all very sad and the like, but in life on had to take things and move on.

And he was rather sure that they would never pass if they'd glance at their books, sigh, and then return to their reminisions.

"Er, guys... can we try to concentrate, please? Test is in two days..."

((Wow, that was fast! x3 **dances happily** Wee! Funfun! And it seems that everyone in the Domino area is on, too. ^.^))

Yugi glanced sadly at Bakura, probably the only one who could come close to understanding exactly what Yugi had lost.... A selfish thought, Yugi knew. But.... it was his other self.... "Even if they were.... I'd probably never know them." He said sadly, sighing and looking down at the text book. "Not in this lifetime...." Any thought otherwise is just a wish that can never come true....
Honda's voice, however, snapped him out of it, and he flushed. "Sorry, Honda!" He said, quickly and determinedly staring back down.
There was a drawing there, an artists depiction of Egypt.... he remembered the Egypt from the Memory Game, the last game Atemu ever played.
....no. The second to last.
And.... even though he knew it was for the best, how bad it would have been had he lost.... Yugi's mind often wandered to what it would be like if he had lost....
"The test is on culture, right? That would probably include quite a bit on the main panthology..." His voice was filled with confidence Atemu had taught him, though friends as close as his could sense in it how hard it was to push thoughts away, even after so long.
My friends.... Yugi glanced around him. Honda, Bakura, Jounouchi.... their little study group.... Yugi found his eyes resting on the blond a bit longer then the others, and he caught himself, looking quickly back at his book.

Jounouchi walked into the kitchen ((Let''s say they''re at Yuugi''s house, since his is shown most often, therefore is the most farmiliar to all of us?)) and grabbed the phone from the reciever. Dialing the number he had quickly memorized once Shizuka had given to him in the hospital, he heard the usual ringing, but this time was surprised to hear the phone on the opposite end of the line pick up. A cautious voice whispered, "Onii Chan ((Big Brother)), is that you?" It was Shizuka. With a sigh of relief, Jounouchi replyed, "Yeah, it''s me! How are you Shizuka? It''s been so long since we''ve talked! I''ve tried to call but...." When Jounouchi fell silent, Shizuka replied, still in a whisper, "I''m really sorry about that Onii Chan. It''s just, Okaa San ((Mother)) got a caller ID after Battle City and everytime there''s a call from your''s or one of your friend''s houses, she makes sure I don''t pick up. I couldn''t call you because I don''t know your appartment''s phone number and Okaa San threw away Honda San''s and Otogi San''s phone numbers before I could memorize them. I''m sorry. She''s asleep right now, so I was able to answer. You''re at Yuugi San''s house right now, aren''t you? How is he?" Realizing his suspicions were true, Jounouchi gave a sad smile, "Well, I''ve been wanting to tell you. After Battle City, getting the God Cards, The Other Yuugi regained his memories... but he also left us. He returned to ancient Egypt, so Yuugi has been really depressed." "You don''t say. That''s so sad... please tell Yuugi San that I hope he feels better for me..." "I will. By the way, is there any chance you''ve heard from Mai at all?" "No. Mai San and I have no way to contact eachother. Why?" "Well, I have no way to contact her either, so I''m just kind of worried. I really miss both of you." "I miss you too Onii Chan. And Mai San. And everyone else. I wish it was still Battle City..." "Yeah, I know what you mean. Battle City was the best time of my life for the most part." "Onii Chan! I''m sorry, but I hear Okaa San stirring. I have to go! Goodbye Onii Chan! Please keep trying to call me. Our caller ID doesn''t say numbers on it." With that, she quickly hung up, leaving Jounouchi feeling happier and more depressed at the same time.

Jounouchi walked back into the room, surprisingly looking dissapointed. Had he been expecting Shizuka to make everything better for him? 'How stupid. She's my little sister. I'm supposed to be making things better for her, not the other way around. It's not like Shizuka's a miracle-worker, automatically making anyone she speaks to happy... though it has always seemed that way to me...' Jounouchi looked over at the group, "I got ahold of Shizuka this time... turns out Kaa San was making sure no one would answer when I tried to call. She was asleep this time. Yuugi, Shizuka said she's sorry that... Atem's gone..." It wasn't that he had a really hard time talking about it, though it was hard. Jounouchi just wasn't used to calling him by this name. To Jounouchi, Atem would always be "The Other Yuugi." Why did Jounouchi have such a hard time seeing them as two separate people? Was it because he didn't want to acknolage that they no longer were one person? Maybe if he just pretended, The Other Yuugi would still be there. It's not like he could see The Other Yuugi when normal Yuugi had the body. So why couldn't he pretend? 'Because I finished pretending when I became friends with Yuugi.'

((To make it a little less confusing, I suppose I'll make the Head of PA's font orange, since it is a totally random color that wouldn't really be associated with any of the characters, and I'll make Atemu's dark red.))

Onuris Zahur sat perfectly still at his desk, his mind buzzing with anticipation. This was it, for years he had waited and prepared for this day. Endless, grueling hours of work, finally about to pay of as the final detail was added to his creation: the soul. His dark brown eyes stared intently at the view screen, all was still quiet in the room, nothing had happened yet. There were scientist, operating the machines that would summon him, as well as watching through the one-way window to make closer observations. The window was made of indestructible glass, he would be completely under their control once he awoken, but you still could never be too careful.

Suddenly the lights in the room flashed to unbareable brightness, then dimmed down to absolute dark. Although his body remained poised and still, completely dignified, Onuris was beaming on the inside. Out of the shadows, he could just barely see a figure rising, and moving towards the window. For a moment, he even swore he saw a pair of crimson eyes stare directly at him. It may have merely been a video image, but the gaze was still piericing.

Slowly, the figure approached the window. From his side it was tinted too dark to see, as well as sound proof, but he still somehow seemed fully aware of what was going on on the other side. Upon reaching his destination, he reached a hand up and pressed it against the glass. The scientist simply watched in amazement, as the hand began to be surrounded by swirling purple and black shadows. The shadow pulsated across the window until, without warning the glas exploded, sending shards of glass everywhere, breaking machinery and impaling scientists in it's wake.

The figured stepped through the window-turned-door, and into the well lit observatory. His skin was dark, and his eyes piercing red. A golden pendant hung from his neck, shaped like an upside down pyramid. His hair, unruly and spiked, was three-colors: black with blood red at the tips, blonde bangs. Atemu.

A smirk graced Onuris' lips. It was official, they had done it. Atemu had been ressurected, and in merely thirty seconds had already proven powerful enough to break the highest quality indestructible glass money could buy.

A voice came over the speaker on his desk. Sir, the ressurection was a success, but three of our men in the observatory room were badly injured by the glass. One looks like he may not make it through the injuries.

"It doesn't matter," He replied, pressing down the talk button on the speaker. His tone was icy, void of any emotion, "One man is a small price to pay for the entire world."

((Heh...I was looking through Egyptian baby names to pick something out for this guy, and Onuris actually means "brings back the distant one" how perfect is that?))

|| niiiice... (both the name and the post) ||

"You know," Honda answered grumpily, "that that's because you've only looked at the 'social life' chapter, since you've been too distracted to ever get to the list of different important Pharaohs and their reigns, right?"