Chapter 1: Dancing on Water

"Yugi, you got ice cream on your nose," Anzu pointed out.

Yugi crossed his eyes to see a small white creamy spot sitting on the tip of his nose. Everyone laughed at his expression as he tried to get it with his tongue. They were all sitting under a nice pink parasol, enjoying the afternoon with each other's company. Anzu invited Alice to meet her friends: Mutou Yugi, Jounouchi Katsuya, and Honda Hiroto.

"So, Sato, how did you and Anzu meet?" Yugi asked.

"Uh…" Alice hesitated and looked at Anzu for an answer. She shook her head and Alice proceeded with a half-lie, "She and I met at your school's field when I was practicing archery."

"Man, you must have a lot of pressure on your shoulders," Honda said, "I mean, our schools rival with each other on just about every sport you can imagine. It's like a life-and-death match between the two."

"Good thing I'm not in the archery club then," Alice said nonchalantly.

"Eh, how come you're not in it?" Anzu asked.

"It wouldn't be a fun competition for everyone if-"

"You should join in, Alice," an unknown voice cut in.

They all turned to see a red-orange-spiky- haired boy marching up towards their table. "Ryuuichi?" Alice was taken aback by her classmate's sudden appearance and was about to run away until he took her hand to stop her.

He knelt down with one knee and complimented her with a kiss, "You're just as beautiful as the rising sun and graceful as a lily. Would you become my bride?"

"No," Alice rejected as she took her hand back.

"But why, my darling? You know we're meant to be."

"This is neither the time nor the place to ask me those things. Look where we are."

Ryuuichi looked around to find everyone staring at him gapingly. He stood up, grabbed Alice up by the waist to bring her close to him, narrowed his eyes at everyone and questioned, "Who are these people?"

"They're all my new fr-" Ryuuichi pressed his finger against Alice's lips to silence her.

He eyed them suspiciously, "You're not here to take her away, right? She's mine, you know."

Alice gestured, "Please, don't take him seriously."

"What are you talking about? We're in love," he yelled proudly.

Alice sweat-dropped, "Please tell me you don't really think we do."

"Hey, c'mon man, why don't ya let her go? She doesn't want ya," Jounouchi stood up.

"Oh yeah, what are you going to do? Sock me in the face?" Ryuuichi provoked.

"Be glad to!" Jounouchi yelled.

Sparks were flying between the two as they glared, ready to punch each other at the sight of the smallest movement. Alice was able to escape from her friend's grasp and separated the two by their collars, "Enough already." She looked at Ryuuichi, "As I was saying, they're my friends through Anzu, and I just met them today."

Ryuuichi straightened himself up and bowed, "I'm sorry for my rude behavior. Please forgive me. I am Watase Ryuuichi."

"Aw, he's actually sweet," Anzu giggled.

"If you ask me, the dude's a jerk," Jounouchi commented.

"No one asked from the peanut gallery," Ryuuichi glared at Jounouchi.

"Why you-" Jounouchi was about to tackle him, but Honda held his friend back.

Ryuuichi took Alice's hand, "I must go, but we'll see each other again soon, my love."

He kissed her hand and sped off out of sight before Alice could yell at him. "That boy… I swear he's going to make hell for me at school," Alice sighed.

"Why would you say that?" Yugi asked.

"Like any pretty boy, there's a fan club dedicated to him. You get the idea of what that's like."

"What?! That punk has girls flying for him?" Jounouchi said out of shock.

"You would have some fan girls too, if you weren't such a dork." Anzu pointed out.

As Jounouchi and Anzu kept demeaning each other, Yugi looked at Alice, "Do you play Duel Monsters, Sato?"

"Yeah, but I don't really play a lot since I barely have time for myself."

"My grandpa has a game shop. We can go over there sometime and play! It would be fun!" Yugi smiled.

"I'll take up that offer, though, I have to warn you, my deck isn't like any other."

"I can't wait!"

….

Near sunset, the gang said their good-byes and separated to go home. Alice arrived to find one phone message waiting to be heard. She clicked the button to hear her father's voice:

My dearest Alice,

I have just arrived in Japan and I miss you terribly! I've been SO lonely, but now, I'll get to spend more time with you! Meet me tomorrow afternoon after school. You'll know where to find me. Hope to see you soon, my lovely rose!

Alice smiled at the thought of finally seeing her father after many months of separation. She couldn't wait to hear his adventurous tales and new artworks he created in Cairo.

Meanwhile, the president of Kaiba Corp. was focusing on his project until his secretary interrupted him, "Mr. Kaiba, there is a phone call from Mr. Pegasus J. Crawford."

"Let him through," Kaiba commanded.

Crawford's face showed up on the phone screen and greeted, "Hello there, Kaiba boy!"

"What do you want, Crawford? I'm busy here." Kaiba stated coldly.

"Oh dear, you don't need to be so icy with me."

"Get to the main point, Crawford. I don't have time to babysit you."

"Now that's harsh! You'll like what I have to say. I'm calling you to a glamorous party I'm hosting in celebration for our partnership!"

"Not interested."

"Oh, but you must go. You know what people will say when the other partner doesn't show up. What will happen to all the potential contracts Kaiba Corp. could be receiving?" Crawford smiled smugly.

Kaiba thought about it momentarily before he gave in, "Tch… Fine… I'll go."

"I knew you had it in you, Kaiba boy! The party is tomorrow night!"

"What!" Kaiba said, surprised.

Crawford hung up the line before Kaiba could lecture him. He slid back against his chair and groaned, wondering why he agreed to go.

….

After school, Alice called for a taxi to take her to the rendezvous point. As they came close to the area, the tall silver building showed up in view with a shiny I2 sign on the roof, gleaming in its grandeur. Once she arrived, Alice walked inside the building to the main desk and was greeted by the secretary, "Nice to see you again, Miss. It's been a long time. He'll be happy to see you in his office."

Before Alice pushed the button for the elevator to come down, the doors slid open and out came the boy she bumped into weeks ago. He gave her the same cold gaze and said, "Move out of my way."

Alice stepped aside and mumbled, "Sorry, your highness."

The boy turned around and confronted her, "What did you say?" He then recognized her and continued, "What's a hazard like you doing here?"

"That's none of your business," Alice replied callously without looking at him.

"I'll only warn you one more time. Stay out of my way."

The boy turned back towards the exit and left in his limo. With no further thoughts about the boy, Alice walked into the elevator and pressed the top floor button. Once she came upon the office, Alice knocked and heard her father respond to come in. She opened the door and bowed, "Hello father."

At the sound of her greeting, her father swooped in and hugged her tightly, "I missed you so much! You won't believe how long I have waited to see you!"

Alice smiled and hugged him back, "I missed you too, Papa."

He let go of the embrace and took her shoulders to look at her, "You're still as lovely as ever. If it was your wedding day, I would cry."

He sniffed and shed crocodile tears while Alice giggled. A knock on the door startled them, and they positioned themselves to look like they were no more than employer and client. Her father called for the stranger to come in and then, sighed in relief that it was only his butler. Alice gave the butler a hug and asked, "How have you been, Crocketts?"

"Miss Crawford, it is heartwarming to see you again. I'm doing well. Shall I call in for the cook to make a special snack?" he asked.

"No need, Crocketts. We'll be ready for the party tonight. Get it all set up soon!" Crawford instructed.

The butler bowed to leave and left them alone. Alice turned to her father, "What party? You never told me anything about that."

"Surprise, surprise, my dear! But there's not a lot of time to go over the details. We must find you a dress now!"

"Papa, is this really-"

Crawford interrupted her, "I told your principal you'll be out for a week since you suddenly have a cold. You'll get to spend the rest of the time with me!" Alice was about to say something, but her father pleaded with puppy-eyes, "Please Alice… for me?"

She sighed and nodded to his request. Crawford jumped for joy and grabbed her hand to the next room, which looked like a sewing room. Maids came in, holding many dresses in their arms. Her father held up each dress to compare and complimented Alice's appearance when she tried them on. When she had a moment to rest, she fell into a poufy chair and was about to take a quick nap until something caught her eye. She stood up and took it off the mannequin to show her father, "This is the one."

….

Crawford and Alice arrived to a white marble Western manor near the sea cliff. They climbed onto the stairs to the open double-doors and into a magnificent gold and red ballroom. White linen tables were lined with food and drinks. An orchestra of violins, flutes, a piano, a cello, and a harp were in a corner preparing to play. A crowd of butlers was lined up at the walls with trays on their hands, ready to serve the guests. Crawford turned to his daughter with another set of crocodile tears, "You look so beautiful, Alice. I'm not ready to marry you off this soon."

"Oh, stop it, Papa," Alice chuckled.

The dress she chose to wear was white with a sweetheart neckline and gold ivy flowing down on the right side. Matching the attire, she wore white long sleeve-gloves, high-heels, and a scarf with gold sparkles. Her hair was tied into a fancy yet messy hair bun, accessorized with white pearls. "Before I forget," her father said, "this is for you. It's a masquerade party!"

Alice put on the feminine golden mask and thanked him before he was whisked away to his duties. A few people arrived and greeted Crawford, which signaled the orchestra to start playing. Alice decided to go out into the back through the glass doors to find a beautiful garden and a big pond in the middle of it. A small waterfall streamed down into the pond filled with water lilies as the full moon reflected in its waters. A cliff was seen beyond the bushes and over the luminescent sea. Alice took in the fresh air and enjoyed the scenery for a few moments before going back inside. More guests appeared in the ballroom, clustered in small groups with hands full of hors d'oeuvre and wine. 'Ok, let the mask conceal you. Pretend you're a family friend if anyone asks,' she thought to herself.

As Alice went around making small talk with the guests, she was surprised to see the person who just entered in. The boy with icy blue eyes was wearing a gray suit, dark blue collared shirt, and a black tie. He was the only one who didn't wear a mask (or looked like he refused to). After he greeted Crawford, her father led him to the middle of the room and gave his introductory speech, "Ladies and gentlemen! Thank you for coming tonight! I invited you all to celebrate the partnership between Industrial Illusions and Kaiba Corporations! And here, Kaiba and I, will toast to a bright future!"

Everyone raised their glasses to cheer and sipped their drinks. Then on cue, the music livened up for people to dance to. Alice searched for an empty corner to hide from the men's looks and potential proposals, but instead, she found the boy, Kaiba, surrounded by ladies flirting with him and persuading him to dance. At first, she thought he deserved to be harassed for his attitude in their earlier encounters and was going to ignore him, but she couldn't hide from her pursuers forever and decided to reconsider her options to take advantage of the situation. Alice walked towards him and grabbed his hand, "Dance with me, Mr. Kaiba."

Without giving him time to protest, she pulled him to the middle of the dance floor. He whispered, "Am I supposed to thank you for this?"

"No, but it was either stay with them or dance with me to get away. I don't like this as much as you do. You can go back there if you don't want to take this offer."

"Is there a third choice?" Kaiba asked, annoyed.

"Dance towards the balcony, but move slowly so no one notices."

When they waltzed for some time without looking at each other, Alice broke the silence, "You're a better dancer than I thought you were."

"Hmph," Kaiba grunted.

"Your social skills, on the other hand, could use some work."

"I'm not doing this to socialize with you."

Just as she was going to retort back, a giddy couple was about to bump into her until Kaiba grabbed her by the waist and swung her to the other side. Alice felt a warm rush to her face as he held her tightly against his chest. When they finally looked at each other, time seemed to have slow down around them. An unusual but nostalgic feeling grew inside of them. With the next steps they took, Kaiba drew Alice closer to him, never letting his eyes wonder away from her face. The iciness between them began to melt as a small flame ignited in its place. Once they reached the balcony and couldn't hear the music anymore, they paused and drew their faces closer to each other. He laid his hand on her cheek and pulled her into a soft kiss. When their lips parted for a moment, they neared for another kiss. Then, a loud laughter from the party snapped them out of their trance. Alice turned away from him, "Well, you can run away now. Past the stairs, take a detour to the right. You'll eventually be at the front of the mansion."

She walked down the stairs towards the pond without looking back. Kaiba reached out to her, but then took a step back. He berated himself for acting foolishly to go after someone he didn't know, or want to know. While trying to calm his irritated feelings for being helped, Kaiba followed the path she told him to take to get away from all the absurdity. Meanwhile, Alice found a nearby bench and sat on it to stare at the moon. She tried to clear her mind of the images and feelings she had when she danced with Kaiba. She couldn't believe how one dance made her desire him. Despite how horrible his personality is, the affection Alice felt for him wouldn't go away. Suddenly, a blue light beamed down from the sky and encircled the surroundings, spotlighting Alice. She heard a voice, "You've done well against my mirror demon, but don't think you can get away from this one."

Alice looked around for the source of the voice while yelling, "Who are you? Why are you-"

Before she could finish her question, the water in the pond lifted itself like a wave and took on a mermaid form. The mermaid looked beautiful with its long hair and small face, but when it noticed Alice, its innocence disappeared as it bared its fangs and charged at her. Alice flipped in the air to dodge the attack. The mermaid swirled around and charged again with a swipe of its claws. Alice eluded the swipe and kicked the demon's head. The mermaid lost its form for a few seconds until it swiveled back into the same shape.

This time, Alice charged at the enemy with a punch before it could land a hit on her. The mermaid repeated its recovery but at a faster rate. After exchanging failed blows, the mermaid decided to change its tactic and tried to swallow its target whole. Alice jumped backwards in the air just in time to avoid it. The mermaid splashed against the ground, but regained its form and continued its pursuit. No matter how many times Alice dodged and counterattacked, it was a relentless chase of cat and mouse, which would eventually exhaust her. To end the chase, Alice conjured huge flames in her hands and blasted them at her enemy. The mermaid was caught off guard by the change and was not able to dodge the blasts in time. The demon turned into a sizzling puddle where it stood.

Just when Alice thought the battle was over, the water floated up and was assembling itself gradually. She knew she had to regain some of her energy before continuing the fight and decided to run away. When she reached the edges of the blue light, she smacked into an invisible wall. Alice tried running alongside the wall to find an opening, but found that she was trapped within the blue light. Understanding the inevitable situation, she turned around to face her enemy and saw, instead of the mermaid, a giant ball hovering over the small puddle. Without hesitation, it rushed at her. Alice ducked and somersaulted away as the ball splashed against the wall of light into more puddles. Alice landed near the pond and immediately started to chant a powerful spell to end the battle once and for all.

Suddenly, the water that was left in the pond swirled around her ankle and yanked her to its depths. Alice struggled against its hold as she tried to get up to the surface. She summoned the flames to swirl around her as a shield, but her energy was too weak to keep it up for long. Her consciousness started to drift away. As Alice gently laid on the bottom of the pond, the last thought she had was of Kaiba before she became unconscious. Then, a voice of seductive villainy, different from the one earlier, whispered, "Release me." Alice's eyes opened and glowed bright red. By her command, the water swirled and encased her as a red light in the center of her heart continuously enlarged itself, ready to break the surface.

At the top of the bench, a shadowy figure was chuckling under its breath. It thought, 'This was so easy. It was a waste of time sending out low-level demons to kill her.' Then, a bright red light beamed from the pond and shattered the blue-light walls. The shadowy figure was taken by surprise and on instinct, shimmered out of sight to avoid confronting the oncoming, menacing presence. When Alice shot out of the water and floated above the pond, the red light disappeared. As she touched the ground, she smiled wickedly at her accomplishment and breathed, "At last." At an instant, Alice fell back into unconsciousness.

Meanwhile, Kaiba was waiting for his ride until he saw a bright red light from the garden grounds. His thoughts went straight to the girl he left behind and felt something was wrong. On impulse, he ran to the last place where he saw her go towards. Once Kaiba reached the area, he found her lying next to the pond. From the scene, he assumed she was assaulted and the perpetrator was still nearby. Kaiba looked around for the perpetrator, but could not find or sense anyone. When he thought he was safe, he came close to the girl and tapped her shoulder to wake her up, but she didn't respond. He checked her pulse and felt no heartbeat. Immediately, he loosened up his sleeves and began CPR. As he touched her lips once more, he felt sensations overwhelming him again: lust, warmth, and familiarity. Kaiba cleared his mind to get rid of the feelings to focus on saving the girl. After giving a couple of breaths, he crossed his hands over her chest and pumped the blood into her heart. He kept repeating the procedure until she chucked the water out of her body and opened her eyes.

Alice couldn't see who saved her, but her thoughts went straight to the boy she had not seen in years. She assumed it was him and mumbled, "Seto" before drifting back into the darkness.

Kaiba didn't hear what the girl said, but he checked her pulse once more and was glad her heartbeat gained its usual rhythm. As he kept looking at her face, he wondered who she was under the mask. When he tried to unmask her, he brushed his hand against her cheek and felt that she was ice cold. Kaiba took off his gray jacket and threw it over her to keep her warm. He lifted her up to carry her in his arms and quickly went up the steps to find a doctor. When he reached the balcony, he bumped into Crawford. Crawford looked at Alice, and then to Kaiba with a serious look, "What happened, Kaiba?"

"Never mind that, Crawford," Kaiba said with urgency, "Call a doctor!"

Crawford directed him to an upstairs bedroom while he announced the end of the party to distract his guests away from Kaiba. When a doctor arrived and was escorted to the bedroom, Crawford and Kaiba stood near the door to give some space for the examination. Kaiba questioned, "Did you see a red light?"

"What red light?" Crawford asked, confused.

'So only I saw it…' Kaiba thought. Then he continued, "Who's the girl?"

"She's a family friend. Why do you have a sudden interest in her?"

Kaiba sensed an unusual hostility from Crawford and responded with his usual nonchalant attitude, "Never mind. Forget that I asked."

"Good. Now, if you don't mind, this is a private matter. I'll have the guards escort you out."

"I can find my way out, Crawford."

As Kaiba was about to close the door, his curiosity of the girl's condition made him stay and leave the door ajar to eavesdrop on the conversation. Crawford asked the doctor, sounding flustered, "Will she be all right? She's not in any danger, is she?"

"She has a couple of broken ribs, but other than that, she will be fine. She needs to stay warm and rest for a few days. You should thank the person who gave her CPR. That saved her life."

Kaiba sighed in relief. Then he shook his head and wondered why he stayed to hear what the doctor said. He thought back to the moments when he touched her lips with his and the feelings he experienced from it. 'This is wrong,' he concluded. Kaiba had to kill his emotions; no one would want a weak leader, especially if he was directing Kaiba Corp. He walked out of the manor towards his limo while stabbing and burying the feelings he developed with every step he took. On the way home, his feelings were gone, but the only thing he couldn't bury in the back of his mind was the mystery of the girl's identity.

….

A slap echoed across the building as the tall figure stood with its outstretched hand, looking down at the person who got slapped. The tall figure yelled, "What the hell did you do? Did you not realize you released that thing?"

"How should I have known? Her life force was almost out and I thought I had won."

"Do you even realize how much power we have to gain back and conserve? Now, we have to start over again! This time, that thing will fully wake up and we don't have the energy to defeat her now."

The shorter of the two figures spoke softly, "But that boy…"

"I'm surprised that he was reincarnated into this era, but it's only temporary and that does not give us a lot of time," the tall figure sighed. All three stood next to each other and disappeared in a flash.

What do you guys think? Who are the three figures that keep going after Alice? What is the evil thing inside of Alice? Why does she have to keep her identity a secret from everyone? How will Kaiba find out her identity? So many questions left unanswered; the answers will be revealed in the upcoming chapters! Stay tuned.