I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Only Mut and the nameless people are mine.

Chapter One- A Fateful Encounter

It looked like it was going to be another beautiful day in Egypt but, to Isis, she felt a sense of foreboding. She wasn't sure if it was a foreboding or if she was being paranoid. Of course, with her Item, she often saw depressing visions and it made everything around her seem dark and foreboding.

I should get out and walk around, she thought. She left the palace and was soon through the gates. She knew that some of her fellow court members, like Seto, preferred to be carried through the streets on elevated chairs that sat on a flat platform supported by servants but she did not share that sentiment and neither did her lover, Mahad.

She thought it interesting that Mahad disliked being carried around as he had grown up in the palace alongside the pharaoh and his top student, Mana. Perhaps his dedication to magic and serving the royal family had given him a sense of humility. He did not look down on others as if he was superior to them and he genuinely cared about the safety of the citizens. She too had these beliefs and concerns so it was little wonder that they were a couple.

Their road to romance began like other romances did. They were fellow court members who served together, nothing more. Then, they began to get to know one another that grew into friendship. She valued that friendship dearly as did Mahad. But a few weeks ago, she felt something for him that went beyond friendship. Naturally, she knew that something was love. She began reading too much into Mahad's smiles and their time together for she so wanted Mahad to love her.

Then, one day, she had been alone doing a fire vision and her Item alerted her to Mahad's approach. She had opened her eyes and looked at the entrance as the priest came into view. "I sensed you coming," she said.

"It is difficult to surprise you," he had replied before chuckling. "I could turn invisible and you would still sense me."

Isis had also laughed. "That is true. I only wished my visions were that clear."

"But isn't vagueness the nature of the Necklace and the future? After all, the future is not set in stone."

"You are correct. The future is ever-changing and all we can do is steer the present to a future we desire."

"Well said and this is one of those moments where I can steer it to a future I want."

Isis had cocked an eyebrow. "Mahad, what are you saying?"

Mahad had taken one of her hands and interlaced fingers. "Isis, I care about you in a way that is deeper than friendship. I don't know how you feel, obviously, but I love you, Isis."

Isis had smiled and put her free hand on their interlaced ones. "Mahad, I have also felt that our friendship was something more. I came to the conclusion that I also love you."

"I am happy to hear that," he had said, kissing her hand's knuckles.

We are keeping our relationship quiet, she thought as she walked. No one needs to know, except maybe the pharaoh. I should mention that to Mahad. After all, we have no secrets between us. Isis was approaching the edges of the city when she sensed she was being watched. She looked left and then right before she saw an older woman peering around a corner; upon seeing that she had been spotted, she came out of hiding and kneeled upon the ground. Ordinarily, Isis would just continue on her way, but something prompted her to walk over to the kneeling woman. "Hello," she said.

"Priestess," the woman replied, looking up at her. "I would be honored if you would rest in my home."

"Now that you mention it, I could use a little rest," Isis said, feeling a little hot in the sun. She followed the woman, who had stood, inside the cooling shade of a nearby house. She moved across the room and took a seat when she was offered one. The woman kneeled before her. "How else can I be of service, priestess?"

"I would like to know you name," she said.

"It is Mut."

"Mother," Isis translated. Odd name, but then again so is mine, she thought.

"Yes, priestess." Mut looked up at her, her brown eyes seeming to bore into her blue ones. Isis felt a bit sleepy and unable to move as Mut rose, put a finger to her forehead, and speak a chant in a language Isis didn't know. Isis' eyes slid shut and her head slumped forward as she fell asleep.

Blue eyes flew open and Isis gasped as she awoke. She felt different but wasn't sure how or why. She focused on Mut and saw other nearby. All females, some women, others teenage girls. Mut smiled, "Welcome back, priestess."

"What…?" she began but stopped when she felt something brush her lips. She put her fingers to it and found it was actually two somethings: They were longer incisors. She gasped as the length and she looked up at the older woman. "What did you do?" she demanded. "Do not deny it. You touched my forehead and said something."

"I will deny nothing. You were selected to join our group."

"Group? What group?"

"We…are vampires. I cast a cursed gift on you and made you a vampire as well."

"A…vampire?" Isis repeated faintly.

"Yes. Most vampires are male but my clan of vampires are female. You have been given a wondrous gift that I can cast as a curse. I used my power of mind control to convince you to come inside."

"Why me?"

"It was felt that a priestess would make a wonderful vampire. Not all vampires are alike. Some are fiendish bloodsuckers that seek to turn others so that they outnumber humans and they also drain humans of all their blood.

"We do not. We are selective about who we turn and we don't drain humans even though we could. It only takes a little blood every day to live."

"But won't biting someone turn them?"

"No. It requires either the curse I used or feeding the human some of your blood after you drink some of theirs."

Isis touched her fangs again with concern. How can I hide this? I can't go back to the palace like this. Mut seemed to intuit what Isis was thinking. "Once you have had some blood, you will be able to control the length of your fangs. Plus, every day you will gain another power or ability until you have gained all the ones you are meant to have."

"Is mind control one of them?"

"Not all powers are possessed by every vampire. I, for example, cannot turn invisible, but some others can. Some control minds, others cannot."

"If this was a curse you cast, then there must be a counter curse," Isis said. "I insist you cast it now."

"There is no counter curse," Mut replied. "It is called a curse but it is really a gift. Now, I could tell you about being a vampire as well as our strengths and weaknesses."

"I will discover them for myself." Isis said, upset that this life had been forced on her.

Mut bowed her head. "As you wish." She handed a small vial of blood to her. "But please drink this today. You will need blood now."

Isis took the vial, knowing she would need it. She headed for the exit, her head throbbing with what had happened and what she had learned. She had been lured to this place for the purpose of being cursed as a vampire. She was one of the living dead and had to drink blood to live. Mut calls it a gift but I fail to see it as such. How can being a vampire be a gift? The only way to see if it is so is to take it a day at a time.