"Wow." My jaw dropped at the sight of this beautiful mansion. The look of this place was the stuff of fairy tales: grand staircase to the double door entrance, white columns supporting a second level balcony, windows with white trim, a fountain in the middle of the circle driveway lit up by beautiful white lights. I've only ever seen a place like this in movies. I was speechless.

"A little small for my liking. Reminds me of the summer house in Biloxi." Laura stated as she exited the limo behind me.

"Small for you, maybe. I wouldn't know what to do with all that room." I retorted.

"Come on, lady. Let's go make our appearance known!" She linked her arm into mine, and we walked up the stairs to the doors. Trying not to trip over my dress, I was walking slowly; at the same time that Laura was nearly pulling my shoulder out of socket to get to the registration table. Beautiful dresses and tuxedos were everywhere. You could smell the money in this place. I heard hushed whispers as we walked by to get to the table, whether or not they were about me, I have no idea. I felt so out of my element amongst the crowd, I am nowhere near the net worth of 99.9% of these people. Yet, it was the grand crystal chandelier that really kept my attention as Laura checked us in.

"Hank Jones and guest." She said to the man behind the table. He was small, slender, and had a young Hugh Jackman look to him.

"I need Mr. Jones here, madam." He replied. His voice did not match his face at all. The soft light-spoken voice of a boy no older than sixteen came out of this guy.

"My father is in Fiji. I am here on his behalf." Laura sounded slightly offended that she needed to explain herself.

"I'm sorry, madam. I cannot verify your tickets without Mr. Jones present." He explained in a guilty tone.

"EXCUSE ME?!" She yelled. Oh God, she's offended now. "DO YOU NOT KNOW WHO I AM?"

"I'm sorry, mad-."

"DON'T TELL ME YOU ARE SORRY! I WANT TO SEE YOUR BOSS NOW!" With that, the boy ran off through the door behind him. My face turned so red from this ordeal. Everyone in the hall was looking at us. Laura didn't care about making a scene. She was a theater major after all. Her family was well-known in Georgia; I'm guessing New York hadn't heard about them. Luckily, it only lasted a moment before people resumed their conversations.

"You definitely have your momma's temper." I muttered.

"I don't like to explain myself to people who should already know who my daddy and family are." She made a good point. Hank was making a name for himself with his investment and possible high ranking job in Kaiba Corp. He knew that by investing his interests and a decent amount of money with a Fortune 500 company would solidify his daughter's inheritance. Personally, I just felt bad for the registration guy.

"Well, I know that temper anywhere." A voice came from the crowd. Through a small group of on-lookers, a beautiful blonde emerged. Her dress was long and draped over her body in the most flattering of ways, her hair was full of volume as it loosely fell around her face, her eyes were a soft violet. I recognized her, but I couldn't remember where from.

"Mai!" Laura smiled. She wrapped her arms around Mai and gave her a hug as if she hadn't seen her ages. "I didn't expect to see you here."

"All world ranked duelists receive an invitation. I know that it's a way Kaiba keeps tabs on the power rankings. Only the top 10 are allowed to be here." She explained.

"I knew I recognized you! You were a finalist at Duelist Kingdom, and also in the Battle City tournament." I excited stated. She just stared at me blankly. I could feel my face turning red again.

"Oh, my. My time in New York has made me forget my manners! Mai, darling, this is Andrea Masters. Andrea, Mai Valentine." Laura had this way of diffusing my embarrassment. Mai smiled and shook my hand.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to come off as a fangirl. I just love Duel Monsters, and watching the tournaments was my favorite pastime when I lived in Lexington." I explained, thinking that it would salvage any dignity I had left.

"No, you're fine. Just wasn't sure if we had met before or not." She laughed.

"Well, Mai, I have to give this guy a piece of my mind. We'll catch up when the auction starts, ok? Save me and Andrea a good spot." Laura said as she caught a glimpse of our unfortunate registration host returning with his boss.

"No problem. Don't lay into him too bad." Mai quickly disappeared into the crowd as Laura and I turned to face the head of security.

"What seems to be the problem, madam?" he asked. He was a shorter guy, maybe 5' 7''. His long black hair ran down his back, bangs covered his deep violet eyes. He seemed soft-spoken, and his demeanor did not appear to be that of an early 20-something.

"The problem is this guy won't allow me and my guest into the ball because my dad isn't here along with us." Laura coldly explained.

"Your father is?" he asked sincerely.

"Hank Jones, of Jones & Lancaster Insurance. The newest partner of Kaiba Corp."

"Hold on, one moment, please." He whispered into an ear piece and waited a few seconds before another whisper. "Right, okay. Ms. Jones, I'm sorry for the inconvenience. My brother and I would like to apologize on behalf of Kaiba Corp."

"And who is your brother?" I asked quietly. I knew Laura could care less about who he was, just as long as she got her way.

"Someone who doesn't deal with whiney people like her." He whispered in my ear while pointing at Laura who was lost in her own reflection in the hallway mirror. "He wouldn't have let her in because of her attitude, even if her dad is about to be head of his insurance department. However, unlike my brother, I am more level-headed and understanding of people's emotions."

"Wait, your brother is…"

"Mr. Kaiba, we need you in the control room." A guard shouted from the door behind the table.

"I'll be right there." He replied. Before he turned to walk away, he handed me two small envelopes. "Here, these will allow you two inside. The guard at the entrance will show you what to do with them. By the way, my name is Mokuba." In a split second, he was gone. It was like he knew what my next question was going to be, and answered it with saying his name.

"So that's Seto Kaiba's brother. Nice guy." I said softly to myself. I took the two envelopes and grabbed Laura by the arm. "Come on, we're in."

"So dumb that we had to even wait in the first place." Laura stated.

"Be careful, Laura. You're sounding like a royal brat."

"That's only because I am starving. I'm ready to munch on h'orderves."

"Don't worry, I'm sure they'll be plenty." I joked as I poked her stomach lightly. We entered the grand ballroom and was directed to the far right corner. The table was decorated with white and blue roses, a string of white lights under sheer netting, and 4 medium boxes. On each box, there was a Duel monster drawn on the lid. Laura and I looked at each other in confusion, but our thoughts were interrupted when the woman at the end of the table spoke.

"Do you have your envelopes, ladies?"

"Yes, of course." I pulled out the two envelopes from my clutch and handed Laura hers.

"Inside is a donation card. You write the amount of money you wish to donate to the children's fund, along with your name. Once all the cards have been collected, I will take them and add the total amount together. Afterwards, I will cross out the numerical amount and place the cards back into the boxes. This is to keep your donations confidential." She explained.

"Sounds simple enough." Laura stated as she handed me a pen.

"Laura, I don't have any money, remember? Or at least enough to feel like I'd make a difference."

"It's fine, just put on the card 'Care of Hank Jones' under or next to your name. Daddy claims you as his unofficial daughter, so he will donate whatever you put down. I'm putting $300,000."

"I don't feel comfortable writing a large amount." I shyly stated.

"Just put $300,000. Daddy told me that as long as we don't go over his net worth, we're fine. Remember, he's worth more than $600,000."

"Still not comfortable with it."

"I know, but it's for a great cause." She reassured me. As I put my pen back into the cup, the woman spoke again.

"Now, select a box. Each box has its own grand prize with it. Each is its own surprise that will be revealed by the champion they are associated with."

"Who are the champions?" I asked.

"That is to remain a mystery until the end of the auction. Please choose your Duel monster and insert your card." There were 4 boxes. 4 prizes of unknown size and value. The only indicator of the boxes were their drawings: Harpie Lady, Dark Magician, Red Archery Girl, and Blue Eyes White Dragon.

"Done!" With a kiss, Laura slipped her card into the Dark Magician box.

"Why that one?" I laughed.

"He's wearing purple, my favorite color, duh!" Laura knows what she likes, and the color purple is definitely one of them. Following her suit, I kissed my card for luck and dropped it into my dragon box.