CHAPTER 1: A New Beginning

SETO KAIBA

"Hey Kaiba! Wait up!"

I turned around to see Yugi and the geek squad running from the stadium.

We all came to Tulsa for The World Duel Monster Cup...

Motou won, again.

I am going to win against that shrimp one day.

At least I beat the Mutt for second.

I glared at him and said, "What do you want Yugi?"

Yugi smiled and said, "We were all going to get lunch and we wanted to invite you and Mokuba."

Mokuba looked up at me with big puppy dog eyes and said, "Can we go Seto? Please?"

I looked down at him and said, "Fine we'll go."

Mokuba smiled and said, "Thank you Seto!"

I went to reply, but all of a sudden coughing came out.

Tea looked at me and said, "Kaiba, you don't look so good. Are you alright?"

To be honest, I felt like crap. My head is throbbing, my throat feels sore, and I'm getting shivers down my spine. But I wasn't going to tell the dweebs about that.

I replied, "It's just my allergies acting up, I'll be fine."

Mokuba looked at me and said, "If you say so Seto."

We all began to walked down the street toward the restrants when Wheeler had to open his trap.

"Guys, am I the only one noticing all the people with moon tattoos on their heads?"

Yugi looked at him and said, "Joey do even pay attention in class? They're vampyres, the tattoo is their symbol."

Wheeler sighed and said, "Oh yeah, I almost forgot that. This is one of the cities with a House of Night in it so..."

I scoffed at him and said, "You geeks really believe this vampyre crap?! It's just a fad or some cult who think they are vampyres."

Tristen shook his head and said, "That's not true. My cousin got marked about two years ago, and sent to the Tokyo House of Night. This stuff is real Kaiba."

I coughed into my hand and then said, "It's going to take a lot more... than a story to convince me."

I started coughing again but a bit harder this time.

Wheeler looked at me and said, "Alright Kaiba, that's not allergies... What's going on?"

I glared at him and said, "Shut up...*cough*... Mutt..."

I sat down on a bench for a moment and Mokuba pressed his hand on my head.

"Seto your burning up. When need to get you to the hotel room. No arguments."

I groaned and stood back up.

I turned to see a strange woman in a black hoodie approach me.

She looked up at me and asked, "Are you Seto Kaiba?"

I replied with a scratchy voice, "Who...*cough* ...wants...*cough*... to know?"

The woman looked at me revealing the elegant tattoos on her head and said in a powerful and demanding voice, "Seto Kaiba, night has chosen thee; thy death shall be thy birth. Night calls to thee; hearken to Her sweet voice. Your destiny awaits you at the House of Night!"

She extended one pale finger and my head felt like it exploded.

I woke up with Mokuba and Yugi staring right at me.

My head felt worse than before especially on my forehead.

I groaned out, "What the hell just happened?"

Yugi replied, "That woman touched your head and you fell unconscious. It was probably your fever..."

Tristen gasped and said, "She did what?! Kaiba what did she say to you?"

I replied, "I don't remember much of what she said, but she did know my name."

I sat up and said, "I must of hit my head... I have a killer migraine..."

I brushed my hand over my forehead to get the hair out of my eyes when everyone gasped.

The Mutt mumbled out, "No way..."

I glared at them and asked, "What?"

Tea shook her head and said, "He doesn't believe that stuff... Why he get picked?!"

I again said, "What?!"

Yugi shook his head and said, "He'll have to believe it now. He one of them or well going to be one of them..."

I yelled, "WHAT?! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU GAWKING AT AND TALKING ABOUT?!"

Tristen looked at me and said, "Kaiba, remain calm... That woman was a Tracker... She well... kind of... sort of..."

I yelled, "Spit it out!"

Mokuba whimpered out, "She marked you Seto... you've been marked..."

I glared at him and said, "I've been what?! Mokuba, how can you believe that stuff?! I mean come on and..."

Tea held her make up mirror in front of my face and said, "That's what we're staring at..."

I gawked in the mirror to see a perfect blue outline of a cresent moon in the center of my forehead.

This has to be a trick.

I took my sleeve and tried to wipe it off, but... It didn't...

It wasn't make up or marker...

I glared at it and said, "This had got to be a trick or something... There's no way this is real!"

Tristen looked at me and said, "It's real Kaiba. What happen to you, happen to my cousin. She said she was feeling really sick when the Tracker came up and marked her. She said it felt like her head exploded, but when she woke up she had the mark of a fledgling and had to go to the House of Night for four years until she completes the change. Your going to have to go Kaiba."

I glared at him and said, "Bullshit. I'm not leaving for some damn cultist school and leaving Mokuba by himself."

Tristen looked at me and said, "It's not a matter of choice Kaiba. You have to go or..."

Mokuba looked at him and asked, "What happeneds if they don't go to the House of Night? What happeneds then?"

Tristen looked down and said, "If a fledgling isn't around a adult vampyre at all times, their bodies will reject the change and... then they will die..."

Mokuba coward in fear at what he said.

I yelled at him, "Stop it you idiot! You're going to give him nightmares!"

Mokuba hugged on to me and said, "Seto you need to go to that place... Please..."

I looked at him and said, "Mokuba I'm fine. Really I am. This is just somebodies idea of a sick joke, alright?"

Mokuba cried out, "No Seto it's not! I saw her touch your head right were the tattoo is at! You have to go! You have to!"

He looked up at me tears lacing his cheeks and said with a sob, "I don't want you to die Seto... Please... Please just... go there... I'm begging you..."

He began crying on my shoulder begging me to go.

He really believes that if I don't go there, I'm going to die...

Why the hell did Tristen have to tell him that?! I'm perfectly fine, not anywhere near dying.

I looked at Mokuba and said, "How about we go back to the hotel and talk about it there? That way it's a bit more private."

Mokuba wiped his eyes dry and said, "O-Okay Seto..."

I nodded and said, "Then let's start walking back..."

We all started walking back to the hotel, when the sick feeling I had eariler came over me once again, but this time I felt worse.

Once we got to the hotel, I immediatly went into the bathroom and tried to wash away the cresent shape on my head.

No good, it was still there.

I'm going to kick the ass of the genuis who thought it would be funny to draw on my face.

My cough began to return and I coughed into my hand.

I felt my hand get wet as I coughed into it.

God, did I really just throw up on my hand?

I looked down at my hand and... I couldn't be more wrong...

What I had first thought to be vomit turned out to be blood and what's worse is that I'm coughing it up.

Something is definatitly wrong with me, but what could...

Tristen's words about the House of Night and fledglings echoed through my mind...

No it can be, that's just bull crap that he's trying to trick me with... And yet everything he said is happening to me...

Can he possibly be telling the truth?

No, it not possible! Vampyres are myths just like magick...

I heard a knock on the door and Yugi said, "Kaiba? Are you alright? You been in there for nearly half and hour."

I tried to reply only to find myself stuck in a wheezing cough.

More blood came out as I coughed and it covered the counter of the sink.

My body ached everywhere causing me to tremble...

I felt to my knees coughing even more than before trying to catch my breath.

I heard Yugi yell, "Kaiba! Please answer!"

My lungs felt like they were going to explode as I continued to cough.

I felt like I was dying...

I felt like... I was dying...

Was he really telling the truth?!

Was I really dying unless... I can't take that chance any longer...

I weakly stood up and wobbled against the wall toward the locked bathroom door.

I'm not sure how much longer... I can stand...

I turned the latch on the bathroom lock and fell into the floor.

My vision was bluring as figures came into the room with inaudible voices.

I closed my eyes and felt my self slip into darkness.

I now stood on the edge of a lake, surrounded by lavender fields.

It was night time and a beautiful crescent moon lit up the starry sky.

The place itself felt, tranquil and soothing, like a sanctuary all it's own.

"Welcome Seto Kaiba."

I turned around to see the single most beautiful woman I've ever seen.

She was taller then most men I knew, her skin was as pale as the moon light that shined, and her hair as black as midnight. Her eyes were a crystal blue that shine like the stars themselves and she wore a smile that seem otherworldly.

But what really caught my attention was the fact her dress looked like she wrapped the night sky around her, for it move with shooting stars and galaxies shining through, and the elegant tattoos that stretched from her forehead down her neck and up her arms.

She smiled at me and said in a luscious and silvery voice, "I've been expecting you my Sono."

She called me the Japanese word for son, something I've never got aquantied with.

I usually would have told her to not call me that but... I enjoyed her voice as she called me it...

It didn't matter if I was her son or not...

I no longer felt the pain I was...

Does that mean...

I looked at her and asked nervously, "Am I... dead?"

She smiled and said, "No, Sono. You are far from dead, though your spirit has been temporary freed to wander the relax of Rei no ryōiki."

The spirit world? I am in a spirit world...

This day just keeps getting weirder.

I looked at her and asked, "Who are you?"

She walked closer to me and said, "I am known by many names... Changing Woman, Gaea, A'akuluujjusi, Kuan Yin, Grandmother Spider, and even Dawn.. But you, Seto, my son may call me by the name which your world knows me today, Nyx or in your native tongue, Nikusu. I am goddess of night and patron to all vampyres."

I wanted to say that wasn't possible, but... the way she moved and spoke, it didn't make me want to fight or disagree with her.

She was speaking the truth... And I was honestly amazed by it.

I'm talking to a goddess... Never thought I would even say that let alone think it.

Which brings up another question.

Why would she want someone who is such a skeptic to meet her?

"I brought you here because you are one of the chosen Seto. You are to be one of the children of night, a Kakedashi... A fledgling."

I looked at Nyx and said, "You heard what I was..."

She nodded and said, "For years disbelief in the impossible had ruled your life making it hard, for you to believe in anything. But that changes today. You are one of my children, a Kyūketsuki... A vampyre. Accept the name, my Sono; in it you will find your destiny."

She held my shoulders in her hands and said, "You are destined to great things my Sono. For you are my Yoro No Ko... My Son of Night... in this age. You are special Seto, deep magick runs through your veins and only one other can teach you to use it."

She held me in her arms said, "Seto Kaiba, Son of Night, I name you my sword and sheild in the world today, a world where good and evil are stuggling for balance."

I looked at her and said, "How am I suppose to do that?! I'm just a teenager!"

Nyx smiled and said, "You are old beyond your years, Seto. Believe in yourself and you will find a way. But remember, darkness does not always equate evil, just as light does not always bring good."

She kissed me on my forehead and said, "Awaken my child and seek my U-we-tsi-a-ge-ya, she shall be your guide."

She faded away into the night sky and I felt myself drift out of the beautiful land and into blissful sleep.

I found myself waking up in a soft and warm bed in a room lit by candle light.

Strange? Did the power go out?

I sat up and looked around the room I was in.

It looked like an old style infirmary, with strange bottles and viles leaning against the wall.

I yawned as I turned to get off the bed.

I felt better... A lot better actaully.

I looked down and saw I was in a set of dark blue pajamas instead of my normal clothes.

I said to myself, "Well... this is strange."

"Seto?!"

The door opened up and Mokuba ran in and began hugging on me.

I looked at him and said, "What's going on?"

He glared at me and said, "You were getting sick and you told no one about it. If we hadn't got you here when we did, you would have died."

I looked around and asked, "Where is here exactly?"

"You are in Tulsa's House of Night Seto Kaiba."

I turned and saw a woman with lushous red hair that drapped over her shoulders and framed her brillant green eyes. She had cresent tattoo on her head with lace work running though it.

She smiled and said, "I am Neferet, the high priestess of Nyx here in the House of Night."

Nyx... She was real... I really met her... Which means...

I really am a fledgling... That vampyres really do exist and I'm going to be one of them!

Mokuba ran to the door and said, "Guys he's up!"

Yugi and the geek squad ran into the room.

I sighed and said, "They're here too?"

Yugi nodded and said, "Seriously Kaiba, put your pride aside for once in your life. You nearly died in the hotel and scared us nearly half to death. We're just glad to see you're okay."

Neferet smiled at me and said, "There are always those who are a bit stubbon on coming here when they are marked, but when they do come they find a whole new life in front of them."

My hair flickered down into my line of vision, so I brushed it aside once more. And once again, everyone was staring at me.

I groaned and said, "What now?"

Wheeler looked at me and said, "Your tattoo... I mean mark... it's filled in!"

I stared at him and said, "What?"

Neferet picked up a hand mirror and gave it to me.

Sure enough the blue cresent moon outline was now completely filled in. But that wasn't just it...

My skin had gotten paler and my eyes seem to be brighter. My light brown hair that seemed to always frizz up now laid flat and smooth. I looked like a completely different person.

Neferet looked at me and asked, "Did you have strange dreams once you past out?"

I didn't pay any attention to the others and said, "Yes... I did... A woman... she kissed me on the forehead... and said she had given me a gift... She called me her sword and shield..."

Neferet smiled and said, "Blessed be! Nyx has granted you your adult vampyre tattoo even though your still a fledgling! Only one other has done that!"

Tea raised and eyebrow and asked, "Who is Nyx?"

I replied softly, "I saw her... In that dream... She's the goddess of night and patron to all vampyres."

The Mokuba and the geek sqaud looked at me with their jaws wide open.

Tea yelled, "You mean... You believe she's real?!"

"Nyx is very real. I've met her myself."

In the doorway stood a girl around my age. She was fairly tan with dark black hair and brilant blue eyes. She looked like she had was some sort of native american in her, but what really intreaged me was her tattoos... I mean mark...

They streched all the way down her face and on to her neck.

Neferet smiled and said, "Seto Kaiba I'd like you to meet Zoey Redbird, a fledgling like yourself who's mark has been filled in before its' time."

Wheeler looked at her and said, "Redbird? What a weird last name..."

Zoey glared at him and said, "I'm a fourth cherokee, it's a common name for my people."

Zoey looked at me and said, "Nyx must have seen some potentail in you to do this while your still a fledgling."

Neferet nodded and said, "Same goes for you Zoey. Doesn't Nyx called you her U-we-tsi-a-ge-ya?"

She smiled and said, "Yeah, it's the Cherokee word for daughter."

That name... She the one Nyx was telling me about...

Mokuba looked at me and said, "Seto... are you going to be okay?"

I looked at him and said, "Don't worry, I'm fine."

Mokuba glared at me and said, "You aren't allowed to say that anymore! You have to tell me exactly how you feel, no genaric answers allowed... Alright?"

I pet my brother on the head and said, "I feel good... I don't feel sick or anything..."

Zoey smiled and said, "That's because your on campus, your body needs to be near Adult Vamps until you've completed the change, until then, you can't get sick or anything like that. Plus we have unsusual powers of recovery. In fact the day I got marked I fell of a cliff, about three hours later I was touring the school."

She gave a small laugh and said, "So Seto... are you ready to begin your new life?"

I replied, "But what about..."

Mokuba smiled and said, "It's alright Seto, I have Roland watching your company and Yugi has offered to take me in while your here. You can stay here..."

I looked at him and said, "Mokuba... I..."

Mokuba gave a soft smile and said, "Say yes Seto... I know you want to... Don't worry... I'll be fine..."

I sighed and said, "There's really no way I getting out of this..."

I hugged my litte brother and said, "I'll call you everyday..."

Mokuba sobed out, "I love you Seto..."

I nodded and said, "I love you too..."

Mokuba and the geek squad waved goodbye and left the room.

I looked back at Zoey and said, "To answer your question Zoey... Yes, I am."