Chapter 1
Heirs and owls
Beep. . . beep. . . beep. . .
Slam!
Thump.
"Ow. . ."
CRASH!
"Oops. . ."
Sitting in a heap on the floor was a thirteen year-old girl with waist-long, straight, white hair. The bed next to her was rumpled with the corner of the sheet wrapped around her ankle. On a night table by her head was a VERY beat-up alarm clock and at her feet a tall bookcase filled with paperback novels had fallen on top of her. Luckily the bookcase didn't hurt her.
Knock. . . knock. . .
"Are you okay, sis?"
The girl looks up at the five-foot-tall, sixteen-year-old boy standing in her doorway with her green speckled violet eyes, "I hate this bookcase, it likes falling on top of me too much. . ."
He laughs slightly and then comes over and starts to pick up some of her books. She pulls herself out from underneath the bookcase and then lifts the 50lb wooden structure and puts it back against the wall. Strangely enough she is about five inches taller than her older brother is. Her brother has tri-colored, gravity-defying hair, and he is wearing his school uniform and the Millennium Puzzle like always. At this point she is wearing a pair of black pajama pants and a dark green T-shirt.
"So where are you off to today, Yugi?" she asks her half-brother.
"Just down to the arcade with Teá, Tristan, and Joey. What are your plans, Raiko?"
"I'm probably just going to help out at the game shop," Raiko says with a shrug.
"Why don't you come join us at the arcade later, I'm sure the others won't mind."
"Okay, I'll try. See ya later bro," she says and he walks out the door after putting the last of her books back on the shelf.
"Bye, sis."
Raiko made her bed and then looked through her dresser for an outfit. She decided on a snug black T-shirt with the words "If you mess with my brother you mess with me" on the front in silver lettering and some dark blue flare jeans with leather ties on the sides and no front pockets. She takes a quick shower and pulls on the outfit and some black leather boots that go up to mid-calf. She pulls her hair back into a braid and securing it with a black hair-tie before grabbing the gold item on her night table and slipping the leather cord it's hanging from around her neck.
The Millennium Pendant.
The Pendant is a thick circular disk about 1 ½ inches in diameter with an engraving of the same Egyptian eye that is on the other items on the front. On the top is a small ring that allows it to be strung and the bottom has a 1 inch long rod pointing straight down. (A/N: Basically it looks like a weird hand mirror without the mirror part. . .)
She glances over at her clock to see that it is now 8 o'clock. She bolts out of her bedroom; down the hallway, down the stairs, grabs a cold slice of pizza on her way through the kitchen, and then comes to a stop behind the counter of the game shop. By the door she sees her grandfather attempting to drag a package into the store. She rolls her eyes and walks over to help.
"Allow me, grandpa," she says and picks up the box easily. "Where do you want me to put it?"
"Just put it on the counter."
She puts the box down and then notices the sending address and who it's for, "Grandpa, why would Industrial Illusions send me something?"
"I don't know, but if it's a video, please don't watch it while I'm in the room," he says.
She rolls her eyes again and then opens the box to find a metal case surrounded by Styrofoam peanuts. She takes out the silver case and opens it to find a video and two cards.
One of the cards was a monster called Elven Sorceress, which was an elf that had the same coloring as her and was wearing a strange toga-like outfit made out of a silvery material. Her left shoulder was bare and on her right shoulder there was a gold ring securing it into place. At her waist was a band of gold that was in the shape of a V in the front and there were golden cuffs on her wrists, ankles and her right upper arm. She was holding a golden staff topped with a glowing yellow stone and she had a teardrop crown made of gold and set with a white stone. She was a level three, Light, Spellcaster with an attack of 1750 and a defense of 1350. Her special ability allowed her to gain 200 attack and defense points for every trap or magic card in the card graveyard.
The other card had the logo for Industrial Illusions on it and the number seven as its description. She picked up the tape and the cards and went into the entertainment room. She laid the two cards down on the table and then put the tape in.
"Greetings dear Raiko!" Pegasus said from the screen. "You are one of the eight people chosen to compete in my special tournament. I am holding this tournament to decide on whom I shall pass my company on to when I retire. You and the seven other finalists were selected from hundreds of possible choices. Along with this video you were sent two cards, the monster card was a gift to you as a finalist, and the second card is your key to traveling through the tasks you will need to complete. If you lose your key card, you can go no further. From what I have seen of your half-brother and what I have learned about you, I think that you have a great chance of success. There is a slip of paper with an address on it; you need to be at that address at 3:00 on July 13th or you will be disqualified. Good Luck!"
The screen goes blank and Raiko just sits there for a minute letting her brain process what she just learned. Then she smiles and grabs the tape and cards and puts them back in the box and then brings them up to her room.
She sits down on the floor and dumps out the box and searches through the Styrofoam until she finds the paper. She looks at the address and sighs in relief that it is only a ten-minute walk from the game shop. She then grabs her dark red deck-box and puts the two cards and the slip of paper into the deck-box before attaching the deck box to a black strap, which she secures to her right thigh.
She glances at the calendar to double-check that today is the 13th of July and then, after cleaning up all of the Styrofoam peanuts, she rushes back down into the game shop to talk to her grandfather.
"Um, grandpa, Pegasus wants me to enter a special tournament he's holding to choose an heir to his company."
Solomon just stares at her for several moments and then says, "Pegasus what!"
"He is holding a special tournament to choose who the heir to his company is going to be. He narrowed down his choices to eight people including me and if I am going to do it then I need to be at a certain address that's only about a ten-minute walk from here, at 3 o'clock today." She says all this in a single breath and then looks at her grandfather in anticipation of his response.
He blinks, "Do you want to go?"
She looks slightly sheepish as she says, "Yes, I would like to go."
His face breaks into a smile, "Then you can by all means go! Just stay safe."
Raiko smiles and wraps her grandfather in a hug and says, "Thanks grandpa, I will, I need to go tell Yugi what's going on before I leave so I'm going to go try to catch him at the arcade."
"Then I will see you when you get back, good luck!"
"See ya, grandpa!" she says as she goes out the door at a slow run.
She goes down the streets, easily weaving through the crowds and soon enough she finds herself in front of the arcade. She walks in and weaves her way over to the corner that her brother and his friends usually are. She smiles as she sees her brother with his back turned and as she walks up she holds her finger in front of her mouth to tell Tristan and Teá to act like she wasn't there.
Then she stands directly behind Yugi and Joey and then says in a loud voice, "BOO!"
"GAH!" they yell and then Raiko, Tristan and Teá burst out laughing.
"That was perfect," Teá says as Raiko sits down next to her.
"So what's with the happy attitude?" Tristan asks.
Raiko bursts into a smile as she says, "Oh, just a little thing called a tournament . . ."
"A tournament? What are you talking about, there aren't any tournaments scheduled for anytime soon." Yugi says.
"Actually, there's one that Pegasus is holding, and I am one of the eight chosen to compete in his special tournament," she says with a smirk.
"What! Your goin' ta go ta one a dat freak's tournaments!" Joey yells.
"Calm down, Joey. It's not like he has a Millennium Item anymore. He also gave me a one-of-a-kind card. She's called the Elven Sorceress." Raiko says.
Joey apparently saw her logic and forgot about his anger as soon as she said she had a one-of-a-kind card, "Hey can I see it?"
Raiko shrugs as she says, "Sure."
Raiko pulls Elven Sorceress out of her deck-box and holds it up so that both Yugi and Joey can see it.
"That's a really good card, sis. Even though it's a low level it can gain a lot of power very easily," Yugi says.
Raiko smiles and then puts her card back.
Raiko looks at her watch and then she says, "I have to leave now so that I'll be on time for the tournament, I'll see you after it's over guys."
"Bye, sis."
"See ya, Rai."
"Good luck, Rai!"
"Go and win dat thing!"
She walks out the door and starts to walk towards her destination. After awhile she glances at her watch to see that she only has five minutes, and from where she was it would take fifteen minutes at a regular pace. Then she smirks.
This was going to be fun. . .
She bolted off and wove through the crowds at a run. She didn't even brush against a single person as she dodged around trashcans and jumped over boxes. She then saw a shortcut and ran up a pile of boxes and jumped over a fence and then ran through the junkyard. The junkyard dogs just lifted their heads slightly, as she went by, not even bothering to chase their friend. She then ran up a pile of scrap and jumped up before swinging herself up and over the fence by an old flagpole. She landed and then ran to her right and then slowed to a walk the very millisecond she walked through the door of the small office building.
Inside there were seven teenage kids sitting in chairs waiting. They looked up at her and then looked at a timer on the table which only had about thirty seconds left and a TV screen next to it.
A girl with short black hair and green eyes said, "I didn't think you could make it here from there in only five minutes. That was pretty cool."
A boy with blonde hair and blue eyes said, "You've got that right, I would never have thought of going through the junkyard, the dogs would have attacked me."
BEEP!
As soon as the timer buzzed, a door behind the desk that the TV and timer were on opened and who else but Pegasus walked through, "I see that you all made it on time, that was quite a show miss Moto."
Raiko sits down in an empty chair and Pegasus slides into a seat behind the desk, "As you all know, you have been chosen to compete in a special tournament. This tournament is not a regular tournament, dueling is only one of the several things you will need to accomplish to complete the tasks that will be set before you."
Pegasus hits a button on the back of the TV and a chart shows up. A picture of each contestant with their names is shown above it and there are blank spots on the chart.
"For the first task you shall be split up into four groups, one girl and one boy on each team. You will be given a challenge to do and you must finish it correctly in the time given to you. Each task will be to judge a specific characteristic of each of you. I will now randomly match you with your partners and then when I hit this button you are to enter your respective rooms to find your first challenge."
"Does everyone have their Identification cards?"
Everyone nods and then Pegasus then takes out two eight-sided dice and rolls them. The two numbers are 7 and 2.
"Raiko Moto and Ken'ichi Anda you are the first team," Raiko and the blonde boy with blue eyes from earlier stand up and walk over to the first door.
He rolls the dice again, 1 and 4; "Akiko Taji and Jonathan Winters will be our second team."
The black-haired, green-eyed girl and a boy with brown hair and brown eyes walk over to the second door.
"I will pick the last two teams myself. Sakura Hoshiya and Andrew Call are team 3 and Paige Wells and Yuki Hikaru are team four."
A girl with red hair and blue eyes goes over to the third door along with a black-haired boy with hazel eyes. A girl with dark brown hair and bright blue eyes goes to stand next to a boy with very pale blonde hair and dark brown eyes at the fourth door. Pegasus hits the button and the eight contestants walk through their respective doors. Raiko and Ken'ichi walk into their room to find a room with a trap door in the ceiling. There is a paper lying on the floor underneath it.
Raiko picks it up and reads it aloud, "To complete your task, go through the trap door."
"Sounds easy enough, but how do we get up there?" Ken'ichi asks, while looking around the nearly empty room.
Raiko looks around and sees a ladder, a pile of cardboard boxes, a table, and a few chairs. Ken'ichi makes a bee-line for the ladder and then sets it up underneath the trapdoor and starts to climb it but Raiko notices something wrong with the ladder.
"Ken'ichi, I don't think that's safe," she says while looking at its precariousness.
"What? Are you scared?" he teases.
"No it's just that I think that ladder isn't safe."
"You're imagining things, this is perfectly sa-ahhhhh!" he yells as the rung that he just stepped on snaps and he falls to the ground and the ladder lands on top of him.
Raiko shakes her head and helps him out from under the ladder and he looks up at the trapdoor and then at Raiko and says, "I guess you were right about the safety thing, but how are we going to get up there before time runs out?"
"Things will often be where you least expect them, let's look over by the boxes," Raiko says.
"Huh? But they're just cardboard!" Ken'ichi says.
"The ladder was obvious but what about where you wouldn't think that a way up would be?" Raiko says as she walks over to the boxes and starts moving them around.
"Uh, I'll just take your word for it," he comes over and joins her in moving around the boxes.
"Perfect," Raiko says and she pulls out a small control with a button labeled 'trapdoor' from a bag inside one of the boxes.
Ken'ichi gapes slightly as she presses the button and the trapdoor above them opens and a rope ladder is dropped down. Raiko climbs up the ladder and as soon as both of them are through, the trapdoor closes and a light above a stairwell turns on.
"I guess we need to go down there," Ken'ichi says and they walk down to find the other six contestants waiting, along with Pegasus.
"Well, that was interesting," Pegasus says and then turns on a new screen. "The goal in that task was to find a way to get to the trapdoor by using your mind; apparently some of you realize that sometimes your first choice isn't your best choice. Raiko, Jonathan, Sakura, and Yuki will go onto the next round. The rest of you are welcome to stay and watch for the outcome."
On the screen it shows a tree chart that shows that Raiko will be going against Jonathan and that Sakura will be going up against Yuki.
"Whoever wishes to watch may go through the door behind me," the four defeated teenagers walk through and then Pegasus walks up to the door and then hits a button, "Begin!"
Raiko and Jonathan walk through their door to find a small indoor track with obstacles scattered all over it. A sign hanging from the ceiling says, 'Beat your opponent to the other side of the track.' Jonathan glances over at Raiko and then bolts off and goes through the course. Raiko shrugs and runs after him, dodging most of the obstacles and jumping and swinging over others. She manages to reach the other side before Jonathan because he went through all of the obstacles.
When they stop he looks at her and says; "You didn't go through all the obstacles!"
"The sign didn't say that I had to go through all of them, it only said that the winner would be the one to reach the other side of the track first," Raiko states calmly.
Jonathan opens his mouth but then closes it again in astonishment and then shakes his head. He then follows her through the door and they find Sakura and Yuki waiting on the other side along with Pegasus.
"Good job, Raiko Moto and Yuki Hikaru will advance to the last round. Jonathan and Sakura, you may head up into the observation room to watch the final task."
Sakura and Jonathan walk up a set of stairs and then Pegasus points to two doors.
"For this task you will be play a game of duel monsters. The rules are the same as those of Duelist Kingdom. The winner of this duel will become my heir and the loser is entitled to a rare card from my private collection and $5,000. Good luck to both of you!" Pegasus smiles his goofy smile and then walks through up the stairs to the observation room.
Raiko and Yuki look over at each other and then nod. They then each walk through their respective doors to an arena that looks exactly like the one that was used for the Duelist Kingdom finals. They both take out their decks and place them down in a specialized deck shuffler.
They then retrieve their decks and place them. They each draw five cards and then say, "Let's duel!"
Yuki Hikaru: 4000
Raiko Moto: 4000
"Ladies first," Yuki says and Raiko draws a card and then looks at her hand.
Skull Lair…Remove Trap…Mystical Elf…Change of Heart…Magic Jammer…Princess of Tsurugi…
"I place one card in face-down defense mode and I'll throw these down, too! I end my turn."
"My draw! I play Warrior Dai Grepher in attack mode and I'll also set these three cards. I end my turn."
"All right, my draw. I place Mystical Elf in face-up defense and end my turn."
"Okay, I'll place this monster in face-down defense and then I'll have my Warrior Dai Grepher attack your face-down card!"
The hologram of Warrior Dai Grepher slashes down at Raiko's face-down card and Princess of Tsurugi appears and launches three crystal daggers at Yuki before disappearing as she is destroyed.
"What! My Life Points went down!"
"That would be because of Princess of Tsurugi's special ability, when she is flipped face-up; she deals 500 points of Direct Damage to your Life Points for every Trap or Magic card on your side of the field."
"I end my turn."
Yuki Hikaru: 2500
Raiko Moto: 4000
"My draw! I play Change of Heart on your Warrior Dai Grepher!"
"Not so fast! I activate the spell card De-Spell! That destroys your Change of Heart card and protects my monster!"
"Not quite, I discard my Skull Lair to activate Magic Jammer! This stops your De-Spell and destroys it!"
"Shoot!"
"And now I will sacrifice my Mystical Elf and the Warrior Dai Grepher that I got from you to summon my Wingweaver! Now attack his face-down card!"
"I activate Spellbinding Circle! Now your Wingweaver can't attack or change its battle position unless Spellbinding Circle is destroyed!"
"That can be arranged! I activate Remove Trap! This card destroys your Spellbinding Circle! This allows my attack to continue!"
Wingweaver destroys his face-down card and then goes back to its position.
"I will now end my turn."
"My draw! I will place one card face-down and then play Monster Reborn to bring back my Warrior Dai Grepher! I will then sacrifice my Warrior Dai Grepher to summon Judge Man to the field in attack mode and I will equip him with Rush Recklessly so that he can launch an attack at your Wingweaver and destroy it!"
"Good move."
Yuki Hikaru: 2500
Raiko Moto: 3850
"I end my turn."
"My draw! I play Pot of Greed to draw two more cards! Now I play Poison of the Old Man and Ookazi to lower your Life Points by 1600!"
Yuki Hikaru: 900
Raiko Moto: 3850
Raiko smiles as she looks down at her last card, "Now I will play the card that will decide the duel! I summon Elven Sorceress! Elven Sorceress's special ability allows her to gain 200 Attack and Defense points for every spell and trap card in the card graveyard. If I remember correctly, there were eleven! That raises my monsters attack points to 3950! Now, attack his Judge Man and end this duel!"
When Elven Sorceress's special ability activated, her stone brightened and when she attacked she aimed her staff at Judge Man and then the ray of light that was her attack destroyed Judge Man and then hits Yuki and lowered his Life Points to zero. The holograms disappear and then Pegasus appears above them.
"Congratulations, dear Raiko, you have won! Yuki-boy you did well, but even though you were defeated you still gain something, through that door there is one of my assistants, he will show you how you can receive your money and card."
Yuki smiles at Raiko and then collects his cards and leaves. Pegasus then presses a button and a set of stairs appears on the wall leading up to the balcony he is on.
"Please join me up here, dear Raiko. There are a few things I would like to show you."
Raiko gathers her cards and then walks up the stairs to Pegasus and says, "You seem to be completely recovered from your little 'accident.' As I remember, you were indisposed after your duel with my brother."
"Yes, I lost my Item…could you tell me how your dear brother is doing?" Pegasus asks in the hope of changing the subject and leads Raiko into an office.
"Yugi is fine and he is enjoying his summer vacation. What was it that you wanted to show me?"
"Only a few things about the company, please have a seat," Pegasus says as he sits down behind the desk.
Pegasus then reaches into a drawer and pulls out a file and a form. He hands Raiko the form and she looks down at it to see that it is a document that once Raiko's name is printed and Pegasus signs it, along with three witnesses, will entitle Raiko to ownership of Industrial Illusions if anything should happen to Pegasus.
"Cool," Raiko says and hands it back with a smile and Pegasus raises an eyebrow.
"This file has some basic information in it about the company and what your responsibilities and privileges will be with the company," he says and hands her the file.
She opens the file and gapes at the fact that she has a $1000 monthly allowance from the company and she has access to a private jet.
"I will have the paperwork completed by the end of the day, and you will be the proud heir to my company, dear Raiko!"
Raiko looks up at him and gives him a huge smile as she says, "I love this already. I need to go let my brother know how it went, so I need to go."
"Why of course! And hear is a small gift for you." Pegasus smiles and takes a small silver device that looks like a Palm Pilot, "This little device is called an I-Com, it has e-mail, a list of important phone numbers, e-mail addresses, and company building locations, you can even search the internet with it."
Raiko takes it from Pegasus and then puts it in her pocket.
"Well, I will send you an e-mail if I need to speak with you about something important; now go tell Yugi-boy how you did."
Raiko stands up and says, "See ya later."
Then Raiko leaves the office and after looking around for a few moments she finds her way out and starts walking down the street. She looks at her watch and notices that it is about 6:30, so Yugi and everyone would be over at the game shop. She smiles and walks down the street at her fast-paced walk. Once she comes to the game shop she walks right in to see her grandfather getting ready to close up the shop.
"So, how did it go Raiko?"
"I'll tell you, but I don't want you to tell anyone else yet."
Solomon nods and Raiko walks up to him and whispers into his ear, "I won."
"That's great! Will you help me close up the shop and then it's your turn to cook dinner."
"Sure, grandpa," she says with a smile.
Raiko quickly locks up the cards and then sets up the special alarm system that she designed. The alarm system will let Yugi, their grandpa, Raiko, Joey, Tristan, Tea', and Serenity in but no one else. If someone else comes in when its set, a series of lights will turn on to warn anyone that's inside. Each light is inconspicuous; there is one in each bedroom, one in the kitchen, one in the living room and even one in the bathroom. Once that's done Raiko turns off the lights and walks into the kitchen.
She takes out her I-Com and sets it down on the counter before starting to make some stir-fry. After a few minutes, she grabs a plastic cup and walks over to the fridge to get some milk.
(rattling buzzing noise)
"GAH!" Raiko yelps with a jump and drops her cup.
With wide-eyes she picks up the cup and looks over at the source of the VERY startling noise.
The I-Com.
Raiko puts down her cup and picks up the I-Com to see a little pop-up message saying 'You've got Mail!'
Still slightly shaken Raiko mutters to herself, "I can't believe how scary this thing is…"
She scrolls down the toolbar and presses the side button to select 'read mail.' She finds a quick message from Pegasus that reads:
Raiko, there is going to be a news release on your new position at 7:00 on DNS.
Raiko looks at her watch and smirks, its 6:55. Then she puts the I-Com in her pocket and finishes the stir-fry and then quickly heads up to the living room where the gang is at and grabs the remote. It is 6:58.
"Hey, give that back Rai!" Joey says and tries to take back the remote.
"In a few minutes, there's something I want you guys to see let's see channel. . . 34," Raiko says and selects the channel just as the 'Domino News Station' starts its report.
This is Aiko Taji with your news today. Earlier today, the president of Industrial Illusions, Maximillion Pegasus, held a special tournament to decide on who his company would be given to when he retires. We now have the results of that tournament. Out of the eight people chosen to compete, Raiko Moto, the half-sister to Yugi Moto the King of Games, was the winner. Raiko Moto is now the heir to Industrial Illusions and if something were to happen to Maximillion Pegasus, she would become the second most important figure in the gaming business. In other news. . .
Raiko looks over at Yugi, Teá, Joey, and Tristan to see them gaping at her. She waves her hand in front of Yugi's face and he doesn't respond. Raiko sighs and then uses her item to contact Yami in his soul room.
How about you take control…Yugi doesn't seem to be able to speak at the moment and I need an opinion.
§ (slightly dazed because he also heard the news report) I guess. . . §
Raiko rolls her eyes as Yami takes control and stands up and then walks out of the room with her, they go into her room and Yami sits down on her desk chair and she sits down on her bed.
"Now, I want both your opinion and Yugi's on the fact that I am now the heir to Industrial Illusions," Raiko states.
"Well. . . Pegasus doesn't seem to be uh…" Yami struggles to find a word to use.
"Psychotic?" Raiko offers.
"To put it bluntly, yes, he doesn't seem to be like that anymore. But I don't see why he changed so quickly."
"He lost the Millennium Eye, I'm not sure how but I believe someone took it from him. The Millennium Eye was a major reason for his behavior during Duelist Kingdom."
"He lost the Millennium Eye?" Yami says wide-eyed.
"Yeah, he did."
"Well, I guess I am happy for you, I'll let Yugi take control now," Yami says and switches to Yugi.
Yugi starts gaping at Raiko again and she rolls her eyes and whacks him on the head.
"Ow! What was that for!" he asks.
"Let's see. . . for not paying attention?"
"Sorry, why did you bring me in here?"
Raiko slaps her forehead and then says, "For your opinion! You baka!"
"Oh, well he seems to be less uh…" Yugi struggles to find a word to use.
"You weren't listening to a single word of my conversation with Yami were you?"
"No."
"Talk to Yami, then give me an answer," Raiko says exasperated.
Yugi nods and then his eyes glaze over and then clear and he says, "I second Yami's opinion."
"Well, that's good enough for me, by the way dinner's ready, are Teá, Joey and Tristan going to stay to eat?"
"Do you want them to?"
"Well Teá would be okay, but I don't think I made enough for the two bottomless pits…" Raiko says as they head back to the living room.
"You talk to Teá then, and I'll try to convince Tristan and Joey that they need to go home."
"Sure," Raiko says with a smile and goes over and pulls Teá aside.
"Are you going to stay for dinner?"
"Well…"
"I made one of your favorites, stir-fry, and the two bottomless pits aren't going to be here," Raiko says with a slight pleading tone.
"Oh, all right, I'll stay for dinner."
"Yes!" Raiko says and then she turns just in time to see Joey and Tristan bolt out of the house, "What the…"
"I gave them two coupons for free pizza," Yugi states with an anime sweatdrop.
"At least it worked, now you get to set the table Yugi, while I bring out the food," Raiko says.
Yugi nods and Raiko goes into the kitchen to get the food.
5:30 am a few days later
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Raiko groans and rolls over in an attempt to go back to sleep.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Raiko sits up and tiredly rubs her eyes and then looks around the room.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Raiko looks up at her window to see a…
OWL?
Raiko blinks in amazement and incredulity. What was an owl doing in daylight, tapping on her window? Raiko shrugs and walks over and opens the window. The owl flies in and drops a letter on her desk before perching on the back of her desk chair. Raiko raises an eyebrow at the strange bird and picks up the letter to see the green inked address written on the front: Miss R. Moto, the front bedroom, Moto Game shop, Domino City, Japan.
"Weird…" Raiko muttered and looked over at the bird that seemed to be trying to tell her something.
Raiko cocked her head at the owl and heard a small voice in her head, do you have any water?
Raiko went wide-eyed and dropped her letter and then stammered, "Wha-what?"
The owl cocked its head to the side and Raiko heard the voice again, you heard me?
Raiko nods her head, too shocked to say anything.
Strange, I have never heard of a human understanding what an owl was trying to say.
Raiko picked up the letter and then said, "I don't know how I-I did that, did you ask for water?"
The owl bobbed its head and said yes, yes, I am thirsty from my flight.
"I-I'll go get you some water then, I'll be right back," Raiko says and then she quietly sneaks down the hall and into the bathroom, still wearing her black pajama shorts and a violet sleeveless shirt.
Once she reaches the bathroom she fills a small dish with water and sneaks back up to her room. She sets the dish down on her desk and the owl hops over and starts to drink. Raiko then sits down in her desk chair and turns the letter over to open it and sees a purple wax seal. The seal bore a coat of arms: a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake surrounding a large letter H. Raiko carefully cracked open the seal and pulled out the yellowed parchment letter. She unfolded it and started to read it:
HOGWARTS SCHOOL
of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
§
Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,
Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. Of Wizards)
Dear Miss Moto,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Though you are older than our usual first-year students, you shall still start at the first-year level. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Minerva McGonagall,
Deputy Headmistress
"What is this?" Raiko said and the owl came over and perched on her shoulder.
It's an invitation to one of the best magic schools in the world; you're lucky to be chosen to go there, after all, they usually only take students from Europe.
"Uh, wait, I don't know anything about magic, unless you count this thing," Raiko said and pointed at the Millennium Pendant lying on her night table, "Wait, maybe Aziza could help me with this…"
Raiko grabbed the Item and hung it around her neck before her eyes glaze over slightly as she goes into her soul room. Raiko's soul room has a wall filled with books: these are to represent her usually calm exterior and her knowledge of the world around her. A low table covered with papers with writing in English, Japanese, Arabic, and Ancient Egyptian, some finished and others barely started or somewhere in-between: to represent all of her ideas and thoughts. Leaning against one of the two remaining wall are weapons: scimitars, katanas, sais, daggers, knives, and staffs: they represent her fighting spirit that though well hidden, is very strong, she would be willing to protect her brother, grandfather, or any true friend, even at the risk of her own life. The final wall has assorted stuffed animals and toys that she had adored as a child, and even a few that are hidden in her room somewhere: these represent her pure heart and innocence, though her innocence is not as great as that of her brother's.
She walks over to a golden door and opens it and walks out into a hallway that seems to go on forever. The door to her soul room has a phoenix engraved into it inlaid with silver, so that it appears to be drawn out of silver. Across from her door is another door, this one has an engraving of an Egyptian eye, though it isn't inlaid with silver like Raiko's. Raiko walks up to the door and opens it to reveal an area much like Yami's except it is made out of white limestone instead of the regular limestone in Yami's soul room. Raiko looked around and then went left, up, right, down, right, left, down, left, down, left, up, right, up, straight, up, left, down. She stopped in front of a plain door that was on her right and opened it to find an Egyptian-style study. Sitting on a cushion on the floor with an old tome in her hands was a woman who looked much like Raiko. Her white hair had barely detectable streaks of silver; her green speckled violet eyes were more narrow and elegant, and she has an aura about her that makes it hard for people to not trust or believe her. Even though she seemed to be several years older than Raiko, her form was in reality only 15, the age that she was when her spirit joined with the Millennium Pendant. The 'girl' looked up from the tome with a smile and set down it down before cocking her head at Raiko.
"What is wrong Aibou?" she asked Raiko.
"An owl just came and gave me a letter, which says I'm a witch and that I've been accepted into a school for witches and wizards, Aziza," Raiko says and Aziza blinks at her in surprise.
"What was the school's name?" Aziza asked curiously.
"Hogwarts," Raiko said.
"What an abnormal name, I could swear that I have heard it before," Aziza said and trailed of in thought before suddenly saying, "I heard your grandfather mention Hogwarts once; he said your father went there, I don't think he realized that anyone was listening to him. You should ask him about it."
"You always seem to have an answer, thank you Aziza," Raiko said with a sweet smile.
"Your welcome, Aibou," Aziza said with a smile of her own.
Raiko then left the room and went left, up, right, down, straight, down, left, down, right, up, right, up, right, left, up, left, down, and then right into the soul corridor. She closed her friend's soul door and walked into her own soul room before closing that door as well. She then faded out as she left her inner mind.
Raiko opened her eyes to see the owl staring at her and said, "What are you looking at?"
You were elsewhere, yet you were still here, you are very strange.
"Well, I think things are about to get even weirder, will you wait until I find out what I need to do?"
I am willing to stay; after all it was a long flight.
"Thank you; just try not to freak out my brother if he comes in here,"
The owl bobs its head and Raiko leaves the room and searches the house for her grandfather. He wasn't in his room so she heads downstairs and finds him in the kitchen.
"Grandpa?" Raiko asked tentatively.
"Yes, Raiko?"
"Do you know anything about this?" she asked and handed him the letter.
His eyes widened as he saw the letter and he looked up at Raiko after reading through the letter, "I can't believe they sent you this, I thought that they wouldn't since you live in Japan and it's in Britain."
"So you DO know something, why didn't I ever hear about any of this stuff?"
"Your father was a wizard, but he said that if anything happened to him that he didn't want you to know anything unless you turned out to have magic. When your twelfth birthday came and went, I thought that it was too late for you to be accepted, but it seems they decided to still take you."
"Should I go?" Raiko asked.
"Of course you should, but how will you get there?"
"Well, there are perks to being the heir to a major gaming corporation . . ." Raiko says and smirks.
"I almost forgot about that, I think it would be fine for you to go. Do you need me to give you any money for when you go get supplies?"
"No, I think my allowance from Pegasus will cover it," Raiko said with a smile and then she rushed back upstairs.
She entered her room and then closed the door behind her before sitting down with a piece of lined paper and a ballpoint pen. She tapped her chin with her pen in thought and then began to write:
Dear Minerva McGonagall and whoever else it may concern,
It would be my pleasure to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry . . . (she wrote a few other things)
Sincerely,
Raiko Moto
Raiko then folded the letter, put it in an envelope and then gave it to the owl, which grabbed it in its beak.
I shall bring this to Hogwarts, thank you for the water and rest.
Raiko smiled and said, "Your welcome."
Raiko then went over to the window and opened it. The owl flew out and then Raiko closed it and picked up her letter again. This time she noticed the other piece of paper in the envelope and took it out and read it:
HOGWARTS SCHOOL
of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
§
UNIFORM
First-year students will require:
Three sets of plain work robes (black)
One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear
One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)
One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)
Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags
COURSE BOOKS
All students should have a copy of each of the following:
The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk
A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot
Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling
A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch
On Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore
Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander
The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble
OTHER EQUIPMENT
1 wand
1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)
1 set glass or crystal phials
1 telescope
1 set brass scales
Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad
PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOM STICKS
"Where am I supposed to get all of this?" Raiko muttered before putting the papers down on her desk and getting dressed.
Raiko put on the same outfit she had on the day she won Pegasus's tournament. Then she took out her I-Com and lay down on her stomach on her bed. She read her mail and then started searching through some stories that some of her online friends wrote. Then she went onto her computerized diary and started to write:
DD,
Today I received a letter saying that I had been accepted into a private school that I never heard of. It's a great school and I'm going to go there, I think it will be fun. The school is in Britain and even though I live in Japan, I think that I can work everything out. Some pretty weird things are happening to me, but then, my life hasn't been normal for a few years now . . . I have a feeling that my life is not going to start being normal again any time soon.
Lightning
Just as Raiko closed out of her diary she heard another noise at her window.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
She glanced at her watch and saw that it was now about noon. Then she went up to the window and opened it for the owl.
Raiko took the letter from the owl and said, "Would you like some water?"
The owl bobbed its head and Raiko heard yes please.
Raiko picked up the empty dish from earlier and refilled it in the bathroom, before opening the new letter. Inside she found a ticket and a short letter. She started to read:
Dear Miss Raiko,
Enclosed is a ticket for the Hogwarts Express from London. The train leaves on September 1st. I suggest that you buy your supplies at Diagon Alley and stay at the Leaky Cauldron until you leave on the train. The Leaky Cauldron is between the bookshop and the record shop on Williams Street in London. When you reach the Leaky Cauldron, ask the bartender, Tom, how to enter Diagon Alley. The first place you will need to go in Diagon Alley is Gringotts, which is a bank where you can exchange your muggle money for wizard money.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Minerva McGonagall,
Deputy Headmistress
"Diagon Alley? Leaky Cauldron? Gringotts? What in the world is a muggle?" Raiko said slightly confused but then just shrugged and looked at the ticket, "So I take the train from platform 9 ¾ at 11 o'clock in the morning on September 1st. Platform 9 ¾? How can a platform be a fraction? I think I'll just ignore the weird names and get organized."
She opened the window for the owl and then opened up her calendar on her I-Com.
"Let's see, if I leave at 4:30pm on the 30th, it will take about 10 hours maximum to get there, including stopping for fuel, then take the time change into account . . . then I should reach London at 5:00 in the afternoon, their time. I need to sleep for a few hours before I leave and then don't sleep on the plane, except for maybe a few hour nap. Then go to the Leaky Cauldron, then into Diagon Alley. Exchange some of my money, then get a room and go STRAIGHT to bed. Perfect." She smiles as she finishes and then she switches to her E-mail.
She sends an e-mail to Pegasus that she needs to schedule for the jet to leave at 4:30 in the afternoon on the 30th for London. She also told him that she was going to start going to a private school. Then she heads downstairs for something to eat with a smile on her face.