( 001 ) ≠ video;

[denyamenti]

I'm starting to think these World Turtles have a fascination with using people's souls as cosmic currency in some way or another.

[ Someone's grouchier than usual today. And apparently uncaring about the hypocrisy of him presenting this particular argument. ]

That's the only reason I can think of for why they're continually attaching ours to some kind of tangible reminder: first lanterns, then jewels, now being marked like a gods-damned heifer at market.

At least no one should be able to swallow these tattoos, unlike the gems-- and before anyone asks, yes, that's a thing someone tried once.

Comments

Re: video;

[denyamenti]

[ That fits with the ornamentation, at least. His is the only world he's had experience with that seems to wear gold so openly. At her words though, the Ring beneath his shirt gives a faint twinge is response. ]

So it seems.

Should I know you?

Re: video;

[prana]

(That makes her blood boil a bit, but somehow she maintains her composure through this. The distance through the video chat makes it easier to manage her emotions... though she is certain she could hunt him down swiftly if need be.)

We haven't been introduced to one another. (It's a vague answer given over technology she's not entirely sure she can trust. Not that she would trust anything Seto Kaiba created, but his work was set up to be manipulated via magical means.)

Re: video;

[denyamenti]

You answer my question by not answering my question-- so I should know you.

[ That unfortunately isn't as much help as one might think. ]

Or maybe you just think yourself more important than you actually are?

Re: video;

[prana]

You don't remember. (She is important. That's the way she was raised to think after all.)

Or maybe you don't want to remember.

(There's a bit of a chill in that retort.

Sera stops at that, conflict present in her features. If she continues this way, then she will be disobeying her master's final words. If she doesn't, then how can she face her fear and overcome it? The delicacy of the situation weighs down on her.)

Is this where you've been hiding? Strange...

Re: video;

[denyamenti]

[ He laughs, abrupt and short, at that suggestion. ]

People tell me that I'm many things, 'avoidant' isn't usually among them.

No one's hiding, least of all me. You may have noticed those who arrive here aren't given much choice in the matter.

Re: video;

[prana]

You are trapped here like the rest of us? (While that catches her interest at the same time it also invokes a little bit of fear in her. He laughs while not remembering who she.

It's a little unsettling.) I shouldn't have assumed. It's been a while since we last met though it is as I said before. I never had the chance to introduce myself.

Re: video;

[denyamenti]

And since you obviously know who I am, why don't you go ahead and correct that?

[ He usually knows the people who know of him, at least in the modern era. He's having trouble placing her there though, not with the way she speaks, the way she dresses that he can see on the video. But would someone from the past have recognized him so readily? He supposes he doesn't look that different. ]

Re: video;

[prana]

My name is Sera. (The name is anticlimactic as she stares down at the tablet with an expressionless look in her eyes. She doesn't expect him to know it or to recognize it from anywhere other than home.

She lets it sit for a moment, as if giving him time to analyze it or perhaps she just means to screw with his mind by not expanding beyond that immediately. It's only after a noticeable pause that she clarifies in a manner he might understand.)

I was under the tutelage of Master Shadi.

Re: video;

[denyamenti]

[ And there it is: the thing that had been niggling at the back of his mind for why she had seemed off to him. Rather than look shocked or alarmed at the statement however, Bakura looks oddly thoughtful. ]

Oh, you were one of those kids from back then. I didn't know any of you had survived.

Re: video;

[prana]

(They survived and increased in numbers. There's a large group of children who all hate his very existence. Sera herself isn't entirely sure how she feels as she keeps her master's lessons close to her heart.)

You make it a habit of leaving behind witnesses? (Her comment is a bit rude, but he did rile her up with that remark of his.)

Re: video;

[denyamenti]

[ He's honestly used to far ruder from people with much less legitimate reasons to hate him, let's be honest. Instead, the thief looks amused at her bold question. ]

Generally? No.

But the rest of you were there as inconveniences, not my target.

[ That said, something like this scenario had crossed his mind at the time, hence the attack on the children. Eliminate future headaches... except apparently he hadn't, and one's at the metaphorical door now. ]

Your master's long gone... nothing you try and do here will change that.

Re: video;

[prana]

I'm aware of that. (A curt answer to a statement she already worked out in her mind.)

There is no bringing back the dead. (Unless your name is Seto Kaiba and you have a huge boner for an ancient dead dude.) What has transpired has transpired and there is no undoing it.

(Buuuuuut...) There are things I can get out of you yet.

Re: video;

[denyamenti]

[ his eyes narrow a bit at that ]

You're welcome to try.

Re: video;

[prana]

Is that an invitation to ask you questions?

(Sera sighs, leaning her head back a bit as though her neck was sore. It was, the conversation making her physically tense in a way she's not entirely used to. )

I wouldn't ask them over this. (Unlike her brother, she doesn't need an audience.)

Re: video;

[denyamenti]

[ Bakura's grin at that is all angles and edges. ]

Yes, you can ask your questions.

[ He's got a few of his own. ]

They've given me space in the sixth room in Quayside. My "roommate" is often out, it seems. You could come here if you prefer privacy for it.

video -> perma action

[prana]

(She's like a sheep before the wolf, yet she has no fear. After all, it's often said that wolves wore the wool of a sheep to blend in at times. She walks away from the device, leaving it there as though there was nothing precious about it. Not that she needs to pick up things and carry them with her, as it'll disconnect and disappear after a while.

Making it to the building that houses the foreigners to this realm is easy enough as she has it mapped out already in her mind. She'll exercise some caution when it comes to meeting with him in person, as she manually walks to the door to his room and knocks on it. Her guard is raised, but she looks mostly relaxed. It's the kind of demeanor a person would carry themselves with as they met up with friends, not with a murderer.

Provided he is the murderer. He seems to accept responsibility for it, if his earlier boasting was any indication.)

Re: video -> perma action

[denyamenti]

[ Come into my parlour said the spider is rarely a more apt description than casual metaphor, but there's nothing to suggest imminent aggression when he answers the knock on the door. Despite that, there are definite stirrings of dark energy around the Ring, a faint raised ridge beneath the shirt he's wearing. Bakura takes an unhurried moment to look her over before pushing the door back wide enough to allow her entrance. ]

Our world doesn't seem overly generous when it comes to donating to this place. There have only been a few, besides myself.

[prana]

Have there? (It seems polite enough to encourage discussion as she steps in without restraint. While it may give the (wrong) impression, that she's confident in facing him, it's due to the security of her own powers. If he moves to strike her, surely by now she can teleport out of harm's way and reprimand him for being a poor host.

... though perhaps she should choose another word other than host.)

What happened to the others? They didn't arrive with you?

(No one came with her, but the world was vast. Who knows who else may be here that she doesn't recognize?)

[denyamenti]

[ 'Host' is most certainly a loaded word. ]

What others are you referring to?

[ and then, since it was likely that he'd end up answering the same either way, he added: ]

I arrived here-- this world, by myself.

[ Which had frankly suited him just fine. ]

[prana]

As did I. (Truth be told, she thought she was the only person until he made that call.

Sera busies herself with looking around with tiny steps, taking in what little features there are to the room.)

You were with the others so I thought... (She shrugs, the vague remark left without any further context as she pauses.)

You have it with you, don't you?

[denyamenti]

[ There's not much; he hasn't bothered to put much of a personal mark on the room given that he doesn't intend to stay, and like most of them, he doesn't have much in the way of possessions at the moment anyway. He fixes her with a flat stare. ]

Did your master not teach you how to speak in complete sentences, or are you just being annoying on purpose?

[prana]

(She's a kid. Hasn't he had his fill of speaking with them by now?)

It wasn't important commentary to conclude, but since you insist: you were spending time with the ones my brother was watching over. The high school students.

(That's still vague, so she'll just go ahead and say it:) Yugi.

[denyamenti]

[ That's interesting phrasing; anyone watching over Yuugi and his cadre should have attracted the thief's attention, but it hadn't. ]

None of them are here.

[ and then, coldly: ]

Why do you have a piece of the Puzzle?

[prana]

(That's a distinct change in tone. Sera shifts a bit in place, having took note of it almost immediately. She doesn't reach for the piece or anything, though she's intrigued that he knows it's with her and that it's only a fragment.)

It's to keep the Pharaoh from returning. (Can't return if the Puzzle is incomplete... or so her brother is betting on.

Though she did want to give it to Yugi, though she decides that's information not worth surrendering just yet.)

[denyamenti]

[ It had taken him a bit to figure out what the Ring was picking up on, and like Sera, he knew better than to tip his hand too early. But he doesn't make any effort to hide the suspicion and confusion at her remark. ]

What do you mean, from returning?