Parallel World (cont. Seperation Anxiety)

[mugenginga]

(OOC: You kind of fail. XD But I can fudge. I must tell you to reread my previous post)

Yuugi looked at the two confused for a moment, "Um... It's a bit of a drop but we can get down..."

To accent his point he turned around and carefully climbed down. It meant a drop of about three feet but the sound of tennis shoes hitting sand could be heard as he landed. He looked up, realizing that they'd probably have trouble seeing him with the fog. He cupped his hands.

"The drop isn't that bad!"

He wasn't sure how they had missed the sand beneath the blanket of fog. Sure, it was more fogged than the tomb itself, but there was ground there. He took a step back so they could get down without landing on him. Could it be because this was his World?

The faux sun was rather bright, however. Rather warm as well. A phantom wind blew past Yuugi as he put his hand against the inward slope of the construct next to him. He knew from Atem's theories that he was reincarnated from an Egyptian soul, but he hadn't realized it would effect his "reality" this much. He looked towards where he had landed and waited for the others.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

((OOC: *totally missed that line* You can smack me now))

"...We suck." K1 said to Souji, who just ignored K1 and jumped down with Yuugi. There was indeed sand down there, and he couldn't help but wonder how he had missed that. K1 still used a Culebre to fly down.

"I have a feeling the bottom part of the 'pyramid' is where we'll find Atem," Souji said. "Let's look for an entrance."

[mugenginga]

Yuugi, for the first time since the Puzzle had been stolen, seemed to lighten up a bit. He nodded quickly and began feeling around the side of the building. There were usually signs of an entrace to places like this. Had he not been so depressed, he might have come across the thought that it was odd Souji thought that. What evidence was there for that assumption? But he was too busy thinking for the first time that they stood a chance of finding Atem.

As it was, it was clear only a few feet of the lower pyramid stuck up from the ground. The rest was buried under the sand. While Yuugi was too knotted to come upon how odd it would be that his and Atem's realities were connected like this, it was possible K1 could come up with it. Souji seemed awfully business for the time being.
-----

Atem hesitated in front of a flight of stairs. He'd already gone down more than his muddled mind could count. But these seemed different. There was something past this point. He didn't know if his heart could take it. He shot his hand out to the side of the tomb. If something attacked him down there, he couldn't fight it. Even if he had a sword on him.

All he had to do was accept it, right? Could he do that? He closed his eyes. Yuugi accepted his... but his partner was stronger than him. Always had been. He jerked his head up as he felt a surge of energy. What had caused it...? He slid into a sitting position. He couldn't face it right now... if ever...
-----

Finally, as if given some final boost, a figure formed in the expansive room that made up the bottom of Atem's World. It looked like him, at least at its base. It was wearing a far different outfit, however. It was like an exaggerated version of what he used to wear back in Ancient Egypt. Exaggerated in that it looked even more royal, as if the Shadow were trying to make a statement or compensate for something. As with all Shadows, it new the location of its other self. It turned towards the distant stares and a dark grin spread across its face. If it wanted to be the real one, it would have to kill the "visitor".

[Firebreath Fishslap]

((OOC: FUN FACT OF THE DAY! The Great Pyramids were originally covered in limestone that shone in the sun, basically making it a giant vision hazard. I like to imagine looking at them being like looking at a solar eclipse. After the Romans invaded, all of the limestone got stolen since it was easier to just take it than go mine some more.))

The bottom part of the pyramid, while mostly covered in sand, definitely seemed to be newer, considering it still had bits of limestone covering it, something only Atem would have seen in his time. The inverted shape was rather curious as well. K1 took a moment to stare at the particular form Atem's reality had taken.

"But why an inverted pyramid?" K1 asked. Souji was crouching down by the side of the pyramid, perhaps looking for some kind of secret entrance.

"This is just a guess, but I think it's because of not just Yuugi-san's connection to Atem-san, but also that Puzzle thing they wore," Souji commented. He stood back up again, and pulled off his glasses for a second. The light reflecting off of the limestone was even more blinding with those things one. After putting them back on, he started walking around to the other side, which would take some time. It was a decent-sized Pyramid.

[mugenginga]

(OOC: YOU ROCK! XD That's a great fun fact - this is why having a friend who likes history is wiiin. XD

I don't know if the bit about inverted pyramids is true, but I remember hearing about it in one of the canons.)

Yuugi was shielding his eyes from the gaze when K1 asked his question. He stopped feeling along the edge of the pyramid as Souji gave his explanation. He shook his head, unsure if K1 could see him with the light coming off the pyramid.

"It's symbolic. According to Atem, an inverted pyramid is a symbol of darkness."

As the word "yami" came out of Yuugi's mouth, a big of energy flared at the part of the pyramid his hand was resting against. By the time he finished up his sentence, a hole had opened and he suddenly fell through, his support lost. The other two teens would turn in time to see a very startled Yuugi being cut off from their line of sight as the freshly opened portal slammed shut...

And for everything Yuugi had said and the fog concealing things, it would be unclear that it had been the word yami that had activated the portal. Yuugi stared with wide eyes at the stone wall that was located where he had fallen through. He wasn't sure what had happened, probably less so than even Souji and K1. After all, they weren't from his canon and the significance of darkness would not be as clear to them. They had only the immediate clues to work with.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

As it was, K1 and Souji had approximately the same reaction, just with varying levels of swearing.

"OH CRAP! YUUGI!"

"What the-- where'd he go!"

K1 rushed over to the side of the pyramid and yelled, "Yuugi! Can you hear me? Don't panic! We'll get inside in a second!"

Souji walked over next to K1 and started examining the bricks.
"One of these has the same symbol that's on the puzzle," Souji noted. "That must be the way in. Now we just need to figure out why it opened up..."

[mugenginga]

Yuugi heard K1 and felt a flood of relief wash over him. At least they were still there. The sound was muted from having to pass through the thick stone, but not enough to make the words impossible to make out. He got to his feet and walked up to the stone.

"R-Right, K1-kun!" He paused when he heard Souji speak, "What's it look like?"

There were plenty of symbols etched into the Puzzle. And while under normal circumstances Yuugi may have been able to work on that clue alone, he was slightly panicked. Atem was missing, and now he was too. Could Kikuri-Hime get him out if he was trapped like this? Did he even want to get out with Atem still missing? He looked at his feet and wiped his eyes. Now was not the time to fall into hysterics again.

Yuugi jerked his head and prayed the noise he'd heard was his imagination. It hadn't been voices. It had been more comparable to something going "bump" in the night. He quickly loosened his sword as he waited for a response. He hoped it would come quickly, being trapped in here alone was not his idea of fun.

(OOC: After some research I think I found the Egyptian symbol for "night" and "dark" (same one). I have no clue as to the accuracy. It's in the section called Ligatured variants of sky, its #2, the Sky with Was-staff. Its "pronounced" kkw. Those crazy Egyptians and their lack of vowels in romanized text. XD Here's the link: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sky_(hieroglyph) )

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Souji examined it for a moment more before responding to Yuugi. "It looks like some sort of table on top of a crab's claw type object. The crab claw looks a little bit like some kind of inverted staff. I'm not really sure how to describe it other than that."

((OOC: Pausing to let Yuugi respond. :3))

[mugenginga]

Yuugi paused. A table with an inverted staff that resembled a crab claw? He tried to think back to all the times he'd examined the Puzzle, both in its complete and pieced forms. He'd actually spent more time doing so before realizing Atem's presence. He'd spent some time almost fearful of it, particularly after the events that could have led to Kaiba's death.

Finally what it might be hit him, and what with the situation and even Atem it really made sense. Atem hadn't been referred to as "Yami Yuugi" or "Yami no Yuugi" for nothing, after all. He opened his mouth to respond when something tackled him. Somehow he managed to keep ahold of the sword, but K1 and Souji likely heard the thump and stifled grunt from the other side of the pyramid. Yuugi had been attacked by a wandering shadow, but his friends could only guess at that fact... as it was, he was prone. Or "Down" if one prefers game terms.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

From the sounds inside the pyramid, Souji was able to guess what had happened. Quickly, he summoned a Persona, though this one was rather different from the others. It took the form of a little girl in a blue dress.

"Alice!" Souji yelled. The little girl held her hand out, and large playing cards flew through the walls into the pyramid. There was a sound like a bird hitting a windshield.

"Keiichi, get down!" Souji yelled, just as the cards flew back out from where they'd gone. "Darn it, the Shadows in there must reflect dark skills--"

And just as he said that, the wall opened up.

[mugenginga]

The shadow seemed more startled than Yuugi. Enough that it gave the teen a chance to get to his feet. He got his sword fully free in that time, but his stance made it clear that even with everything that had happened, he wasn't used to the whole melee thing. The shadow jumped back and what appeared to be a black mist circled Yuugi. It was likely Souji recognized the skill, and without knowing the teen's abilities in regard to shadows, it was likely something to be be concerned about.

The attack was over before there was much a chance to react, and Yuugi seemed unphased. Fact was, Nefertum granted him the ability to resist Dark skills, which included the Mudo family of attacks. Yuugi took the time to turn his head to the group, holding out his sword as guard, "That's what I thought! It's dark!"

The door had been about to slam shut again, but the wall vanished halfway down. Yuugi seemed elated at having figured out the puzzle, but the shadow was running for him again. For all his newfound skills with a sword, he obviously wasn't as used to the battlefield as he could be. Or even should be for the situation they were in.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

K1 and Souji reacted at the same time, as a large fire attack and a powerful blast of ice flew from Alice and Culebre respectively. The Ice attack, at least, seemed to have done a lot of damage, as the shadow disappated into a black mist. K1 breathed a sigh of relief and stepped into the pyramid itself as Culebre landed back on his head. Still a very heavy dragon.

"That was close. You alright? Need any healing?" K1 asked. Souji stepped in as well, and examined the walls.

"These are actual hieroglyphs, not kanji this time. This definitely seems to be Atem's reality," Souji commented.

[mugenginga]

Yuugi shook his head. Actually, he'd probably be better off with some, but he was back to trying to be tough. He looked to the side as Souji made his comment and his eyes flooded with hope. Really, it was the most positive reaction the teen had carried since the Puzzle had been stolen, "Really!? That means we'll find him soon!?"

It was almost saddening how inaccurate Yuugi's hope was. Just finding the World a person belonged to meant little in the grand scheme of things. If Atem's pyramid was as large as Yuugi's, which was implied by the matching base size, there would be over ten floors to go down. Likely not something that could be done that day. However, time was exteremely short. Souji was likely banking on three more days after today of rain. However, K1 had Naoya's forecast... the fog would come in the day after the next.

Yuugi glanced around to see if he could see any shadows before running forward a few feet. He turned back towards the group and looked very much the over eager little boy, "We have to hurry!"

It was true some of the weight had been lifted. But part of his mind nagged at him. If they didn't do it soon... the hope could be snatched away in the cruellist way possible. He looked like what K1 and/or Souji said could send him into tears or more hope at the moment... the portal that Souji and K1 had stepped into slammed shut before anyone could respond. And it was much darker in this world. The paranormal light that had allowed sight in Yuugi's was not there. It was darker than Rise's world had been after her Shadow had turned out the lights, and one likely couldn't see the hand fully stretched ahead of their face. As it was, Yuugi couldn't see Souji and K1.

"Guys!?" he shouted, his voice at least revealing his approximate location.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Of course the door shut behind them. It always does in these kind of movies, and the TV World always loved taking cues from television. Only way to explain the shadow versions of everyone, really. In any case, Souji responded to Yuugi.

"We're down here," Souji said. He walked forward, keeping one hand on the wall. "...We should probably come back tomorrow with flashlights." They did have a few days after all, before the fog came. If they rushed, they could make it to the bottom floor and to Atem (and his inevitable shadow) in time.

"...I dunno. I don't think we should leave Atem in here for very long," K1 said. He hadn't seen a Death Clock over Atem's head, so he was sure the Pharaoh wouldn't die, but Death Clocks changed.

"I'm not sure fumbling around in the dark is much better," Souji said. K1 had to agree, but he was worried. They didn't have very long... two days.

[mugenginga]

Yuugi heard Souji getting closer. His suggestion terrified Yuugi, and he was quite grateful the darkness hid his expression. He knew it was plastered with a terrible mixture of fear and worry. He shook his head and turned his head towards the further halls. Come back tomorrow...? How much time? He had to ask the question now.

"H-How much time do we have?" The way his voice wobbled made it rather clear he didn't want to leave and the mixture of negative emotions he was feeling.

He feared the response. Souji had become rather business after the encounter with Adachi. The teen would probably be willing to cut it close. Yuugi didn't want to do that. What if they ran into trouble? But it was true that they couldn't see... maybe fire? Not that it would be easy to maintain without a torch, but maybe one of K1's demons could maintain a constant flame...