Prologue

It was too sunny.

There should have been rain.

lots of rain…

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Brighton, England was a place very few came to and even fewer left, though most who would never exit simply stayed and live on.

Happily.

Though, some would argue, that they weren't really alive at all.

seto agreed…

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"My Prince, why do you not sleep?" One of the many identical maids asked the visiting youth as her soulless eyes focused on him in the neverhours and the way he didn't seem to be affected by anything at all.

"I don't need too Maria." The too thin and seemingly fragile boy explained to the woman whose name wasn't Maria, or at least it hadn't been in many years.

The room was, by all means, flawless. A large and comfortable bed sat in the middle, near it were many bookcases, a desk, a dresser, and a large floor-length mirror. The prince found it all too obnoxious and too frivolous; he missed his simply starch white sheets and he certainly missed the familiar sounds of his brother running around causing mayhem.

There was no mayhem here.

There was nothing.

Seto blinked, momentarily, as he felt himself again before everything dulled away and he heard the woman who didn't consider herself Maria exit.

no mayhem…

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The Yuugi-tachi happily sat in the living room of their 'leader's' house. All of them happily speaking of happy things and food…but Jou was really the only one speaking of the latter.

A small barely audible beep was heard and the shortest boy looked away from the smiling girl known as Anzu to focus on the grey computer in the corner. The machine wasn't the best of computers, but it was past the stage where it shouted 'you've got mail'. It was a small happiness, but for the teen who owned it was just another wonderful little thing that he would vapidly smile about.

A quick check of his inbox proved more then a little interesting and soon enough the rest of the group was crowded around to read the e-mail.

Dear Mr. Motou(and friends…you sure have a lot of those, don't you?),

You have been invited to a very special tournament in Brighton, England. Lord Adrian Tavern, a close acquaintance of your acquaintance Seto Kaiba, is holding it and would be overjoyed if you could attend, and of course, compete.

Tomorrow morning the postman shall be bringing you airplane tickets for four(for Mr. Jonouchi, Mr. Honda, Ms. Mazaki, and yourself, obviously.) and further instructions.

We thank-you in advance for attending. We know you will.

Secretary of Affairs for Brighton, England,
Maria.

"Wow…I guess Kaiba-kun told them about us…" Yuugi mumbled slightly confused by the strange e-mail and the even stranger lack of an e-mail address. It seemed too odd, at best. Too many odd things had happened and had only stopped two months ago; this seemed like tempting fate.

"Score! Aw, Yuugi, this is going to be awesome!" The blonde mutt announced pumping his fist into the air as Anzu nodded quickly and Honda did a small dance of happiness in the background.

Yuugi's small line of resistance towards the idea faded away at his friends' happiness.

go ahead and smile…

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Pegasus J. Crawford had been very happy today, that was his way after all. He had enjoyed find food, fine wine, and fine cartoons and then he received an e-mail and nothing was fine.

Brighton…it's been awhile… The man sighed as he stared upwards at the sunny sky and listened to one of his maids packing away many of his belongings.

"Here I come, Kaiba-boy." He finally decided with mock excitement and grin. Inside he felt a sharp pain at his heart, all he could do was take another swing of wine and hope for the best.

it tasted sour.

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Once upon a time there was a prince. He was the son of a king. The king died. A lord lived on. The prince did as well. Things happened, but nothing of importance. And then everything changed.

"My Prince…it's time for you to wake-up." A falsely benevolent voice declared.

but Seto's head hadn't even touched the pillow….

TBC…

Random Notes and whatnot: Erm…yeah, the whole story won't be written like this. I'm just setting everything up and such. There will be yaoi, yuri, and het later in this story as well as darker themes and general unpleasantness…and oddness. Also this may be a tad Seto-centric and isn't actually AU…even though it'll seem like it for awhile…there is a good explanation, but it hasn't been explained yet. (obviously)

This is set after the end of the manga, meaning Yami no Yuugi isn't around. Right, anyway, review if you want….though I understand that the prologue isn't very telling and is probably more annoying then anything else I suppose I'd be annoyed with someone if they just wrote a silly prologue instead of a real first chapter. xD

Also, this isn't going to focus on cards or anything, just so you know.