Chapter 1—The Uninvited Guest

It was a cold, rainy night, in the dead of winter. Families all throughout the kingdom of Ishtar spent the night huddled together by the hearth. In the castle, where the king and queen lived, there was quite a hustle, for Queen Veronica had gone into labor that very night. Servants scurried about, preparing for what they hoped was a boy, an heir to the throne. Esteemed guests from all over the land gathered outside the queen's chambers. These were noble men and women, all close friends of the queen.

However, these guests were of no ordinary noble bloodlines. All hailed from either the kingdom of Domino, a western country that served as a barrier between the world of humans and the world beyond, or from the mysterious Shadow Realm, which lay just to the west of Domino.

These guests included the royal family of Domino, the Three Good Witches of the Shadow Realm, and even Isis, Queen of the Shadow Realm, accompanied by her loyal bodyguard Odion, and her young daughter, Princess Ishizu.

But, unbeknownst to them, there was another, uninvited guest who shivered in excitement and rage. She knew she would have her revenge this very night.

A shrill cry broke through the darkness, so late in the night that it was early morning.

"Ah finally," sighed the aged King Solomon, stretching out his back. "Anymore of this waiting and my back surely would have gone out."

The door to the queen's chambers opened, and the young midwife, Serenity, poked her head into the hall, happiness shining in her gray eyes.

"The Queen has given birth to a healthy baby boy," she announced, opening the door wide for the Queen's guests to enter.

"Yami, wake up," Atem, the crown prince of Domino, said, gently shaking his young son awake. However, the two-year-old prince seemed quite content to stay asleep on his mother Mana's lap. When Yami clung tighter to his mother, Mana picked the boy up and carried him into the room.

"He's a growing boy. He needs his sleep," she said to her husband. Atem nodded, a smile on his face.

"You know Serenity," said Rebecca the Good Witch. "I have the best gift for the little prince. Those two dumb-dumbs, Mai and Tea, have stupid gifts."

"Who are you calling a dumb-dumb Rebecca!" Mai shouted. "Besides, I have the best gift. Your gift is the stupid one. Even Tea's gift is better than yours and that's saying something."

"No you idiots," cried Tea. "My gift is obviously the best. After all, what is a prince to do without friendship? It's the most powerful force in the universe!" she declared. "Isn't that right Serenity?"

Serenity sweat dropped at the Witches' antics. "Sure it is," she said, hoping the three witches would just get in the room and leave her alone. Luckily for her, they did, of course they bickered the entire time.

"It is good to see you again Serenity," Queen Isis said.

"Ah yes! It is good to see you as well, my Lady."

"Is Veronica well?" the Queen asked.

"She seems to be. The birth went well, but you never know with these things," Serenity replied. Isis nodded.

"Hello there Princess Ishizu," Serenity cooed to the little girl whose hand was clasped firmly to her mother's. "My, you've grown so much. Last time I saw you, you were just an itty-bitty baby. How old are you now Ishizu?"

The little girl looked down at the floor and tried to hide behind her mother. "Ishizu," said the Queen. "Tell Miss Serenity how old you are."

"…Six," came the shy reply.

"Wow, six already? Well I must be getting old. Oh, good morning Sir Odion," Serenity said, receiving a polite nod from the stoic bodyguard who stood behind his Queen.

"And to you, Miss Serenity," he replied as the three entered the room.

But, the uninvited guest entered the room too, with no polite exchange with Serenity, no jokes, only anticipation for her revenge.

The intruder entered, invisible and undetectable to the occupants. She watched them as they greeted Queen Veronica, as the imbeciles cooed over her beautiful baby boy and as they chattered on and on about how utterly precious he was. He had a head of thick black hair like his mother's and eyes just as blue. Not for long, thought the intruder.

"What is his name?" that blonde, fool of a witch, Mai asked.

"I've decided to name him Marik," Veronica said. The intruder felt a bitter laugh rise up in her throat. How ironic. Oh, this was so fitting, she thought. It has to be fate.

Many of the other guests looked taken aback. "Why would you name your child after that…that monster?" Mai asked.

"It is the way of my people," Veronica replied. "I defeated the Dark Sorcerer Marik, and therefore, I shall name my son after him. Before long, it shall be a rather common name."

The intruder watched as the guests bestowed their gifts upon the boy. The royal family of Domino gave the boy gold and stated that he would be a welcomed guest, should he ever choose to visit their kingdom. Odion, the bodyguard gave the boy the gift of courage. Then those three stupid witches went and they took forever to finish, bickering the whole time. Mai gave the boy the gift of beauty, Rebecca gave him intelligence, and Tea gave him friendship. By the time they had finished bestowing those three measly gifts, only thirty minutes remained till sunrise. So the intruder, her stomach roiling with impatience, revealed herself.

There was a gasp as she appeared seemingly from nowhere and approached the crib.

"Well aren't you just the most precious little child," she sneered, looking down into the child's innocent little face. He peered up at her with his big dark blue eyes and made that adorable cooing noise that babies make when they are happy. "Marik. You are not worthy to be named after my husband."

"W-who are you?" Serenity demanded.

"The White Witch," Queen Veronica whispered, and the witch could see fear in the Queen's deep blue eyes. The witch sneered, an expression that looked strange with her otherwise angelic appearance. Long white hair framed her perfect, pale face and perfect brown eyes. But her eyes were rimmed with red, as though she had been crying. "Your name is Ryou, isn't it. You were married to the Dark Sorcerer."

"That is correct, but I don't want to hear my name spoken by the woman who murdered my husband. And where is your husband, dearie?"

"He…he is still in the north. He has not yet returned home from-"

"From slaughtering my people," the witch finished. "Well that is lucky for him then."

"Please! Please don't hurt my son! He is only a baby! He has nothing to do with your husband-"

"I don't plan on killing your innocent little child, but I will have my revenge. You see, just like these silly witches here, I have something for the prince as well. Three things actually," Ryou said, and her hand began to glow. "From dusk till dawn, the Prince will remain a boy, but sunrise till sunset, he will live as a girl. Second, his body will be the host for the spirit of my husband, the Dark Sorcerer Marik. And third, on the day of his eighteenth birthday, Prince Marik will die and the Dark Sorcerer Marik will take control." And as the Witch said this, the black hair atop the Prince's head turned pale blonde and his blue eyes turned to violet.

"No!" cried Veronica. The Witch turned to the Queen.

"Oh, I have something for you as well, Veronica. You shall be like me," she said bitterly, "never be able to see your child grow up. At sunrise this day, you will die." And with those words, the witch pulled a knife from her pocket and raised it to her throat, saying, "I seal this curse with my blood and with my life." She pulled the knife across her throat, spilling her red blood. Then Ryou, the White Witch, fell to the ground.

"Kisara, Akefia," she whispered with her final breath, and she died.

Veronica buried her head in her hands. "No," she cried. "Isis, is there nothing you can do to save my son?" Isis shook her head.

"I cannot break the curse," she said. "But I can give your son a way to break it. I have not yet given him my gift after all. When Marik finds true love, he will live. And he will find true love. I will also give him two guardians to watch and protect him." She turned to Odion. "Odion, my faithful guard, will you serve Prince Marik as you have served me?"

"Yes, my Queen. Of course. I will protect him with my life," replied Odion.

"Ishizu, my daughter, will you look after Prince Marik as though he were your own brother?" Isis asked her daughter.

"Yes mother, I will," the Princess said shyly.

"That is my gift."

"Thank you Isis," Veronica said. "Ah, I can feel it. The sun is rising." As she said this, the Queen breathed her last breath. Prince Marik cried out and everyone could see that the baby's hair had gotten just a bit longer.

Hi there! Thanks for reading the first chapter of my story.

Ryou: Why am I the bad guy? And why am I a girl?

Me: Because I said so.

Ryou: But I committed suicide! In the first chapter! And I don't even really get why!

Marik: Hey, at least you did something. All I did was cry. And probably wet my pants.

Bakura: Marik, you can't complain. You were actually mentioned. What about me? I thought I was supposed to be a main character! Isn't this bloody story supposed to be thiefshipping? How can you have thiefshipping without the thief! Seriously, Rebecca is a more major character than me! Rebecca! At least her bloody bear hasn't overshadowed me yet...

Me: Actually she doesn't have a bear. She has a unicorn. It has zebra stripes and its name is Teddy.

Marik: What the hell are you smoking?

Me: Nothing actually. This is just me when I'm not on my medication. XD And don't worry, Bakura. You're going to be in pretty much every chapter after this. This was more of a prologue.

Marik: Hey, isn't it going to be difficult to tell the difference between me and the other Marik? You know, since we have the same name and all.

Me: No, I will specify that it is the 'Dark Sorcerer' Marik. Anyway, this author's note has gone on lone enough. Please review!