Chapter 1: The Beginning

Some say it was fate brought us together, some say a curse was brought upon Skylar Brody the daughter of Steven Brody. He was the concept artist for his brother Maximillion Pegasus who is Skylar's uncle. Skylar has short layer black hair with a red shine to it, ocean blue eyes and sand flawless tan skin. She was wearing a red long sleeve v-collar shirt that hugged her chest and midsection perfectly, under the hem of the shirt was a soft black skater skirt that just went down to her mid thighs, she was wearing black knee high socks and black boots with a tower of silver butterflies on each boot. She was also wearing a wide black leather bracelet with a silver dragon in the middle, she was wearing a pair small diamond stud earrings and wearing a Victorian style Swarovski elements Bermuda blue crystal pendant choker necklace. The necklace has been a family for many generations or so that's what Skylar's mother told her before she died. She has been raised by her father most of her life, learning from him and learning about his job. However, she didn't know that his job would get himself killed. She is now an orphan.

She looks out the window of a private plane that her uncle has sent for her and sees white puffy clouds go by. Uncle Max is now her legal guardian. Her father had written a will stating that Maximillion Pegasus would have full custody of his brother's daughter since he could protect her from great evil coming upon her. She didn't understand what her father said, but maybe her uncle can shed some light on the subject. She sighs tiredly and rubs her eyes that have been staring out into space. The flight was long and it deprived her sleep since the funeral. Uncle Max wasn't able to make it to the funeral because he had business to attend to in Domino City in Japan. That's where she was heading. She was heading for Japan to live with Uncle Max. That's a long way from home as in another country.

"Ms. Brody." She looked away from the window and at the young flight attendant. Her blonde hair was neatly in a bun and wearing one of those blue flight attendant uniforms. She gives Skylar a bright smile and gave a bow. "We'll be in Domino City Airport in fifteen minutes." She nodded, but didn't say anything. The young blonde flight attendant smiled and walked away. She hasn't talked since her father was murdered. No one knows why, but she all of sudden went mute. They don't know why and they have asked, but when she answers she shrugs her shoulders. Skylar knows she hasn't been herself, but she's mourning her father. He's the only family that she had left beside Uncle Max, but she doesn't get to see him as often. He's was always working on new projects. The new project was called Duel Monsters.

Her father was head of the concept art for the game. He would sketch and paint the original art, show them to Uncle Max to see if he approves, once he gets the approval he would go down to lab and instantly start working on how many copies there needs to be. They would also have a discussion which one should be the rarest and one of kind. The process was slow, but it eventually became a hit worldwide. She grew up with the game. Her father has taught her the cards. How they connect with its deck owner and be one with the card. Always have confident in your cards and always be confident in yourself. That's what her father taught her. Uncle Max has taught her the rule of the game and how to strategize your cards and how to use the special effects and respect the cards and also respect your opponent. Those where happy times however, those are just memories. Her reality was filled with pain. The pain was unbearable. She couldn't describe it. No one could.

Skylar looked out the window again and saw the city of Domino coming into view. The city was filled with tall beautiful buildings full of glass windows, the sky was vibrate blue, white clouds are fluffy, she could see the tiny people walking around the city, the cars driving through the city for work and buildings stood tall and proud. The airport came into full view and felt the plane's rocky landing on the runway. She continued to look out the window she saw several different planes from different regions of the country. One she saw was from England, Korea, China and several from Japan. Each one has its different design and interesting shades of colors. The plane slowly started to stop and the young blonde flight attendant walked towards her and smiled.

"We have arrived at Domino City airport Ms. Brody." Skylar nodded and she sighed tiredly. She unbuckled the seat belt and stood up from her seat. The young blonde flight attendant helped her with two of her bags and Skylar grabbed her black duffle bag filled with some of her favorite books, sketchbooks, journals, laptop and movies. The two big pink plastic suitcases were filled with her clothes and other essential needs. The rest of her stuff from her New York home was being shipped to Uncle Max's mansion here. She knows he has two mansions, one here and one called Duelist Kingdom.

Skylar knows her uncle would want to join his new tournament, but since recent events had accord he has made clear to her that she doesn't have to participate in the tournament. However, he has asked her to watch the duels by his side. She has agreed to watch with the duels with him and see how her future opponents will be. After all she is the Queen of Games, at least in America she is. "Ms. Brody." Skylar was snapped out of her thoughts and glanced at the young blond flight attendant. "Mr. Pegasus is waiting for you." She nodded, slung her black duffle bag on her shoulder and started to walk towards the entrance of the plane. The captain and his partner were in front of the plane and greet Skylar with a bow. They both gave her sympathy smiles and wished her the best of luck. She gives them a sad smile and walks down the steps of the plane.

The blinding sunlight shines in her eyes, she use her hand as a visor to cover the blinding sun's light and looked over across the way. A white limo was parked a couple a feet away, she saw Uncle Max next to the white limo and his bodyguard she knows too Croquet. They were both standing next to the limo waiting for Skylar and here she is. 'He still looks the same.' She thought to herself. Uncle Max still has his long silver hair; he was wearing his usual red suit and white dress shoes. Croquet was wearing a black suit with a white dress shirt under his black jacket, black shoes and wearing black sunglasses. She gives Uncle Max a small soft smile and walks down the metal stairs. The young blonde flight attendant walks closely behind her with her bags in each hand as they both walked towards Uncle Max and Croquet.

As Skylar gets closer to Uncle Max, he held his arms out and she immediately walked towards his open arms. He wrapped his arms around her waist, she didn't hug him back, but that was okay with Uncle Max. There were no tears or strangled sobs of sadness, there was only silence. Everyone waited patiently for the relatives to mourn in silence. Skylar could hear Croquet mumbling a silent prayer for her. She loved Croquet, he was always with Uncle Max and she has gotten close to him. He was the one to teach her self-defense, he was always there for her when she was little. He would play games with her whenever she was bored, he would take her to the park when her dad and Uncle Max are at work, he would watch movies with her until she would fall asleep and sometimes he would makes breakfast for everyone in the early morning. She may not be alone in the world, but she still feels that emptiness inside of her.

Pegasus knows he can't replace the father role in her life, but he sure can be there for her when she's ready to talk. He knows she has to come to him when she's ready. He knows he's going to have to wait for a long time when she's ready to talk about everything that has happened in her life. Being in the regional finals of the tournament back in America, dueling the best of the best in America and recently getting the title of the Queen of Games. Yes, a lot has happened for his niece and he was damn proud of her, but as she got the title she has been harassed by different duelist to duel her, stalking her because she has her mother's beauty and grazed fans trying to break into her home. The good and the bad have happened to his niece. However, he couldn't stop thinking about his brother. Why did he have to leave this world? Why did he have to leave his only daughter to battle the cruel world on her own? Pegasus is determined to help Skylar as much as possible, she has been through a lot and he was going to be by her side when she is ready to face her demons.

He pulls away from Skylar to look at her face and he could see there were no tears to be shed, but the sadness in her eyes they were noticeable. He gives her a sad smile and sighs.

"Let's go home." Skylar gave a weakly nod; he put an arm around her shoulders and led her to the limo. Croquet opened the back door for the both of them and Skylar went in first. The young blonde flight attendant walked towards the back of the limo and opened the trunk of the limo. She put the bags in the trunk neatly side by side and closed the trunk. She quickly walked around the limo and got in the limo with Mr. Pegasus and Ms. Brody. Pegasus got in last and saw next to Skylar while the young blonde flight attendant sat across from them. Croquet closed the door and walked towards the passenger seat. As Croquet got into the passenger seat, he looked over at the driver and nodded. The driver turned on the limo and they start to drive away from the plane and out of the airport.

Skylar sighs sadly and looks out the window of the limo. She knows life is about to change for her. Soon Domino City will learn about her father's death since he was working with Uncle Max, they learn about her new title of being the Queen of Games and they will learn her name. "You're father was a great man Skylar. He was so proud of you and always loved you no matter what." Skylar glanced at Uncle Max and he gave her a small smile. "He would want you to be happy." Skylar nodded and looked back out the window. She watched the scenery drive by. She saw the buildings close up and saw how tall they were. It took awhile to get back to the city, but Skylar saw some interesting buildings. Some of the buildings remind her of New York including the twin towers. The buildings look neat; the windows shine against the sun's light and saw many people walking on the side walk on different sides of the street. This would be her new home. It's almost like New York City, but Domino City looks much cleaner. At least the air was.

"I didn't finish school." She whispered to Uncle Max who nodded in agreement.

"We'll figure that out, but first we need to go finish up some business." Skylar nodded, but spoke again.

"I need to go find a man named Solomon Muto." Pegasus gave her a weird look at Skylar, but she continued on. "Dad said he knew him a long time ago. Said he gave him something and in return if he would have deceased he would give it back to me. Apparently dad talked to him about me even showed him a picture of me." Pegasus nodded understanding why she would want to find this man.

"Do what you have to do. We'll visit the school I enrolled you tomorrow before the championship." Skylar nodded and noticed the limo stopped. Skylar looked out the window and noticed they were in front of a big building with different features and a lot of windows. She heard the limo door open and looked over at Uncle Max. "I must attend to a meeting here at Kaiba Corp." Skylar nodded and he gave her a small smile. "It shouldn't be a long meeting. Go ahead what you need to do. I'll wait here if I get out of my meeting early." Skylar nodded again and he closed the door. The driver then started to drive again and turned to the left corner of the street and drove straight. Skylar mind was somewhere else not even paying attention to where they are going. Solomon Muto has been on her mind since she landed here. Her father knew Solomon and helped him opened up his game shop. He always loved to help game shop owners to open their shop. He always loved the owners who have the heart of the cards. Who have respect for the cards and the game, who understands the cards and have a special connection. That's what her dad really likes, game shop owners who have respect. Solomon was that man. Skylar's dad respects him and she respects him too. Caught in her own thoughts she felt the car stop at the side of the street, she looks out the window and sees a bright yellow building with a red roof and a sign that says Game Shop with green lettering.

"We're here Ms. Brody." She looked over at the young blonde flight attendant who apparently changed quickly into a nice two piece suit a black jacket with a white dress shirt under her jacket and a black skirt that went down to her knees. She also changed her shoes to classic black shoes with a small heel. Skylar raised her eyebrows at the young blonde who shrugged her shoulders. "I quickly changed before we got here. I only had to change the jacket and the skirt so it wasn't much." Skylar nodded and the door opened on her side of the limo. Croquet greeted her. Skylar got out of the limo with the help of Croquet and looked over at the game shop.

'Still looks the same.' She thought to herself and she sighed sadly. She didn't want to do this, but since her lawyer read her the will in testament. She must get the card back before anyone else could get there hands on it. It was one of the rarest cards her father has ever designed. There are only four cards in the world and someone has three of them, but they weren't going to get the fourth. That card belongs to her father now which now belongs to her. She would keep it safe and always have it with her no matter what. Besides her dad had design the rarest cards he has ever designed. She was the first to have them. At least the original design, those are the rarest to her.

"Are you ready, Sky?" Croquet's voice snapped out of her out of her thoughts. She nodded and sighed.

"Let's get this over with. The sooner, the better." Croquet nodded and walked in front of her. The young blonde walked next to her and they all walked in silence. Croquet looked at me and I nodded. He opened the door to the game shop. Here goes nothing.