#seekeroforder

[maariku]

Yours is an Empty Hope

((closed starter for seeker-of-order))

Mariku hung his arms over the railing, watching the ocean waters crashing against the side of the ship as they sliced through it. His gaze lifted slowly to the horizon, watching a pair of birds diving to catch their dinner. 

Battling against the wind in his already messy hair, Mariku swore under his breath and turned to face the strong winds, squinting against it and following along the railing towards the bow. 

He was still getting used to the silence, the absence of Malik. He had no where to hide now. He was just... himself, whoever that was. He had no Mind Palace to retreat to, no company... not that Malik was ever the best company, but Mariku didn’t realize how much he enjoyed having that someone else alongside him until he was gone. Go figure. 

If he had been alienated before, it was nothing compared to now. He understood, to an extent, why Rishid and Isis would hate him more now. He had killed their brother. 

He scowled to himself. He still was their brother--sort of... 

His gaze flickered over to Isis up near the bow of the ship. She seemed more distant lately than ever. Mourning, probably. Mourning who? Malik? He was still here? Half of him, anyway. 

They didn’t even look at him. 

Mariku heaved a sigh and slid his hand over the railing, looking out at he ocean again with longing. The Rod nudge his back, still tucked in his belt as Malik had it. Mariku didn’t really care much, having it around. He didn’t imagine having a whole lot of use for it now, but he still liked holding on to it out of habit if nothing else.

His glance slipped back up to Isis. Would you bother? What, talk to her? Maybe. He never would have before but... the seclusion and silence he’d been subjected to these past few days were almost too much. Maybe he was desperate. 

Would you call her “sister”? No, probably-- well... She wouldn’t like it. Probably not. And yet, and yet... he longed for a sister. For a brother. For a family. Even for Malik... 

Biting his lip, Mariku dragged himself from the railing and made his way over to her. He paused, a good distance behind her, but he didn’t doubt she had noticed him coming. He opened his mouth and drew a breath but hadn’t planned anything to say. A moment passed with his mouth agape in hesitation. 

Finally, he muttered, “Hullo...”

[icyceo-blog]

Make It Stop

Another dream. Another memory. Another whatever it was. Sitting on an intricate throne, adorned in the robes of an Egyptian ruler, there was the man who looked exactly like himself. Or, if he was to believe Yugi and everyone else, this man was him... in his past life. Like always, he was like a ghost, floating in the air and watching from above. Nothing but a spectator as this man began his rule as the new Pharaoh. But then something new happened, suddenly he was pulled into the body of his carbon copy to see what was happening through his eyes. It was the oddest feeling, now it almost felt like they were one and the same, yet the thoughts, the words and actions that happened were not his own. He was still the spectator.

Kaiba watched as this man....Priest, or now Pharaoh, Set.... greeted servants as he gave them orders and did the tasks that were assigned to him as the new Pharaoh. It all seemed as normal as it should be, given the circumstances, but he could feel the turmoil of emotions swirling around inside Set. It was dark, a dangerous combination of grief from losing Kisara, stress of becoming the ruler of a kingdom, and a yearning for....something. He couldn’t discern what that something was, but as Set came to a lull in his duties and decided it was as good a time as any to slip away for a breather, Kaiba had a feeling he was about to find out. 

Kaiba frowned as they walked down the halls and headed down to a darker place within the palace, the dungeon. A cold pit of anxiety settled in Kaiba’s stomach as Set walked down rows of barred prisoners before entering a cell at random. “So, I’ve heard you refuse to talk?” Set’s calm voice rang out in the dark prison and Kaiba saw the prisoner’s eyes widen in fear at the sight of him. “We’ll just have to change that, now won’t we?”

“Please no-!”

***

Seto Kaiba awoke with a start, eyes darting open as he stared up at the ceiling above him and immediately worked at calming his breathing and pounding heart. The visions had been happening quite frequently as of late. They’d only recently started happening again and it was progressing quite quickly. He already had one man that haunted his dreams all too often, he didn’t need anyone else interrupting his sleep. And with the dark route this one started to take? It was the last straw. It was time to seek help, as much as Kaiba was loathe to admit it. There was only one person he could think of to turn to about this. He just hoped she’d be more helpful and less irritating than last time. Luckily for him, he heard that she just so happened to be back in town for the while.

Managing to get a couple hours more of sleep, Kaiba woke up at a more reasonable time and went through the usual morning routine. The CEO then proceeded to get some work done at KaibaCorp for a couple more hours before heading down to the Domino Museum to pay a little visit to Isis. 

Walking up the stone steps, Kaiba stalked through the museum doors and immediately let his gaze trail around the room as he searched for the woman he was seeking. 

[seeker-of-order]

Rest Calm

xallet:

    ♫. —— She was just stressing and wanted to get back to her small rented apartment before this damned day got any worse. With the speed of her pace, it wasn’t all too surprising that she’d come so close to colliding with someone, only to reel back a second in time but lost her balance in the process of the surprise. She landed on her rear a little ungracefully, a wince- ❝ S-Sorry- I wasn’t watching where I was going— ❞

Isis was on her way to the store to buy herself food for dinner after work. She only hoped that Rishid would fare well with her being late.

However, it wasn’t long before she had rounded a corner and collided with someone else. Her eyes widened immediately and she had to throw her right foot out to the side to prevent herself from falling over.

After she was able to properly recover her balance, Isis was able to hear the thud followed by the apology. The voice was very familiar. She glanced down only to see Anzu wincing on the sidewalk. “...Ah! Anzu-san!” she gasped, eyes brightening in recognition. She quickly held her hand out to help the younger woman back onto her feet. “...It’s alright,” she insisted with a smile. “I was also careless.” She had been lost in thought. 

xallet

[seeker-of-order]

Open Starter

Isis Ishtar valued three things in her life. Her family, the Gods, and work. At the moment, she was partaking in the third. Work. 

She had just finished consulting with a few archaeologists and exited her office to take a walk around to the front desk of the museum. Rishid would be here to pick her up in a few hours. She hoped that he would bring coffee along with him. She could really use a cup. 

As she approached the desk, she spotted someone who appeared to be confused. Deciding to stand in as a ground employee, she moved in front of the stranger and placed on her warmest smile. 

"Hello," she greeted in Arabic. "Are you looking for something in particular?