"The Millennium Ring?" I asked.
"Yes," answered my father. "I picked it up for you when I was in Egypt. I thought you would like it."
"I love it," I answered, unable to take my eyes off it.
This is how it all began. My twelfth birthday. Or rather my belated twelfth birthday. My father is rarely around for anything. He's only in Domino for a week this time before he has to go back to Egypt. So he picked up the Millennium Ring for me as a belated-birthday-early-Christmas present. It's an odd object. So strange and mysterious.
And yet I can't take my eyes off it. I'm completely mesmerized by the object in my hands. It always seems to sparkle and shine, even when there's no light hitting it. There's an ethereal aura about it, and when I look into the eye in the center of the pyramid-shaped centerpiece, I can feel myself be drawn in. There are five needles hanging off of it. They look so sharp they could be used as daggers, but I can't guess their true purpose. The room is dark, but the Ring's weird glow seems to light it anyway.
My father ruffled my long white hair and left the room. I didn't notice. I was too absorbed in the beauty of the object in my hands. I held it gently, as if I would break it, though it was one of the strongest metals I think I'd ever seen. I can't figure out what it is. It doesn't feel like gold.
I had the urge to wear it. There was a leather cord wrapped around a loop on the top, ready to be worn like a necklace. It would make a large and rather tacky accessory (and I could really use more reasons to be picked on), but at the time, sitting alone in my room, I didn't care. I slipped the Ring around my neck, pulling my hair out from under the strap. The ethereal glow brightened.
There was something akin to a jolt of electricity through my mind and body. It was over as quick as it has begun, but when it ended, my mind felt…different. Like there was a pressure at the back of it. I couldn't figure it out, but I do know that it left me shaking like a leaf. I couldn't be sure, but I could have sworn that I heard a mocking voice in the back of my mind just then.
Ryo Bakura…I suppose you'll do.
I shivered, unsure of whether or not I had really heard that, or if I was just tired. Deciding on the latter, I took off the Ring and started to get ready for bed. The pressure in my mind didn't leave, but lessened slightly. I looked at the Ring as I lay it on the bedside table, and couldn't help but notice that the glow had dimmed immensely. I didn't know it then, but that what when all hell broke loose.