The Magicians' Realm Chapter 36: Rummage in the Attic, a yu-gi-oh fanfic

Chapter 36, everyone, in which we find out Yami Skellington and Teana's ages, dusting happens, and romantic things blow up in people's faces…which is actually more fun to write than things going well….

Kineil, Hephaestus and Vulcan are playing three-way Canasta there, by the by—if you get five nines in a deal, you can lay them out and force another deal. Considering getting five nines means you've probably got a junk hand, it's the route most taken—although it does cause aggravation for the other players, mostly because they got all the good cards.

And Randy Travis music sums up relationships in the Magicians' Realm quite well, I think.

Heaven's Eagle, thanks for the review and the follow! Eh, sort of—we'll get more into that later, but at the moment, it's more parallel timelines; they will most likely cross though, with interesting results. Excellent! I hope to continue to please! :D

Angiembabe, thanks for the review! Yes, the younger Yami is having all the luck romance-wise—the elder one seems to be lacking in that department. And maybe. :)

Fromtheashtrees, thanks for the 75th review! Aha, I knew it—and it was probably me: technology messes up when I'm around. And no, you're not the only one. Yes, it's like my Mom says: there's ways you act at home, and then there's ways you act around other people. Ah, another good use—very cool (could have sworn I did—oh well). :D Obviously—but let's be honest: if we were plugging along with a comic, and suddenly a lot of people got excited over a little two-issue throwaway thing, we'd be wanting that interest to last a long time. On the flip side, I wonder how it would have gone if it had become popular without duel monsters. Oh yes—and then Monopoly with these people: "You landed on Boardwalk and went bankrupt! Penalty game!" They did a good job….Yes, here's hoping Finding Dory is good (was a little disappointed by Zootopia—pretty, nice caper story, but I guessed all the twists but one before they happened, to Mom's amazement—and then as she pointed out, the message was a bit heavy-handed).

References:

Flowers in the Attic © 1979 V.C. Andrews (if this story references an attic, it's guaranteed there'll be a reference to Flowers in the Attic—absolutely weird series, by the way)

Original characters + setting © Kineil D. Wicks (myself, not the girl in the story)

Teana had officially walked off her rage, and was now meandering through town, trying to work through her emotions.

And then she heard the source of her problems coming up behind her.

"Teana!"

"Stop following me," she sighed, not bothering to turn around.

"I know—everyone I've talked to for advice on this has told me to give you time—"

"How many people have you talked to about this?"

Yami at least had the gumption to look sheepish when she looked at him. "Well, you see, a lot of people saw fit to give me advice…."

"Did Kineil?"

"She said something about getting over you and moving on—and then she started playing Randy Travis music when that didn't work."

"She said you've been moping."

"I do not mope."

"Apparently you do."

"I was in very deep thought. And maybe a bit of emotional turmoil, with a dash of existential crisis."

"Sounds like a recipe for disaster."

"Yes…."

"I don't think we should see each other."

"Why not?"

"The longevity difference—and I'm going to guess age difference. How old are you?"

"Seventy…seven."

"I'm twenty-five."

"Okay…."

"That's a problem."

"Not really—physically I'm the same age as you."

"That's not the point."

"It's my mental age you've got a problem with?"

"That might be a contributing factor."

"I could try harder."

"It won't work, Yami—you might as well come to grips with it."

Yami looked confused, then consternated. "Hey, wait a minute! You can't do that! You said I had a year."

"I said you'd show how you really were in a year."

"But that's not fair! You haven't seen how I really am because you won't see it—you've got all these preconceived notions about me that I've got to fight through just to get you to see me. That's not even remotely fair."

"Oh, we're talking about what we won't see, are we?" Teana shot back. "Well, while we're on that subject—you won't see that a Commoner and a Magician aren't a match, you won't see that everyone's laughing at you for trying, you won't see everyone looking down their noses at me for being a little girl in the wrong spot in the big world—you're absolutely blind! You haven't even noticed that Kineil's in love with you!"

Oops.

Yami looked like he had just been hit again. "Do what?"

Teana nodded. "Maybe you ought to invest your romantic overtures in her. Good night, Mr. Skellington."

And with that, she ran once more.

*/*\*

It was the next day, and Yami was planning to make good on his previous plotting.

"What are you boys doing?" Jenna asked, passing by with the laundry.

"We're going into the attic," Yami responded.

"For what?"

"To look around. Maybe dust."

"All right," Jenna said. "Just watch out for those four fair-headed children we've been keeping up there."

Yuki did a double-take. Yami, however, had heard that line before—had passed it on, even—so it didn't faze him. "We will, Mom."

She nodded and continued on her way.

"I didn't know there were kids in the attic," Yuki said as Yami opened the trapdoor.

"There isn't," Yami said, letting the dust settle before entering the attic. "Mom got that from some book called Flowers in the Attic."

"So there's no one up there."

Yami glanced around. "Not even a mouse," he opined.

Indeed, it had been a while since anyone had been in the Montgau's attic; the last time Yami had been up there, he had found the Millennium Puzzle, but hadn't bothered with the attic since he solved it. Since then, a decent layer of dust coated everything. Every step they took sent a small puff up.

Yami crossed over to the window and levered it open. A cross-breeze blew, prompting fresh air to begin replacing the musty, stale air and getting the temperature down to manageable levels. Yuki took a deep breath and coughed.

"Yeah, it's pretty dusty up here," Yami said, brushing some dust off of a box and out the window. Satisfied with the one he uncovered, he opened the lid and began rifling through it.

"What are we looking for?" Yuki asked.

"Spellbooks, pamphlets…anything that could have a spell to learn out of it."

Yuki began casting around, searching for the appropriate sort of box. He settled on one and got to work.

*\*/*

"I've decided," Hephaestus said, sitting down at the counter and putting his soda down so he could pick up his cards. "That I'm never getting emotionally involved with a woman."

"If that's the case, we're not sharing a room anymore," Vulcan declared, still dealing out cards.

"I'm not doing that. No, I've decided that any women I get involved with will solely be a physical relationship."

"Heph, in order to do that, you'd have to meet a woman who would actually get into a physical relationship with you," Kineil said, flipping up her last card before laying her hand down. "Five nines."

"Aw, come on!" Hephaestus moaned, throwing his cards down. "How do you keep doing that?"

"That one was Vulcan's fault," Kineil said, pointing.

"Hey, I shuffled good this time," Vulcan argued, shoving the cards toward Hephaestus. "Your deal—and if she gets five nines again, it's your fault."

Hephaestus grumbled, but started shuffling.

A door slam echoed in from the foyer. "Ah, the king of romantic hopelessness returns," Kineil observed.

"Here's hoping I get my money back this time," Vulcan said, before turning in his seat to greet Yami as he entered the living area. "So! How'd it go?"

It went badly, Kineil was going to say: Yami looked hopelessly lost and confused, an expression that only deepened when he looked at them.

"Do you have a thing for me?" Yami asked, looking straight at Kineil.

She blinked, confused. "A cactus-thing?" she asked, remembering Rocky's ill-fated attempt at romance.

"A thing-thing."

"I have two cents worth of free advice, if you'd only take it."

"Teana said you were in love with me."

Kineil's hand spasmed into a fist, irrevocably bending an ace of spades. "She said what?"

Hephaestus and Vulcan exchanged glances.

"I feel the need to vacate the premises," Vulcan said.

"I second that motion," Hephaestus said, throwing down his cards and bolting—pausing only to snatch up his drink—Vulcan hot on his heels.

"It, uh," Yami noised, gesturing awkwardly. "I…it sounded silly, but I've been walking around for a while, thinking…and I don't think she was lying."

Kineil struggled to keep her twitching facial muscles from forming any expression, instead throwing the ruined ace down as she stood up.

"Where are you going?" Yami asked as she walked by him and into the foyer.

"I'm going to go solve your problems for good," she declared, slamming the door behind her as she went.

*/*\*

Greg was busy with a rather complex case (and the even more complex paperwork involved) when Head Administrator Sumbinix stuck his head in.

"Did you ever get to the potion-still case in Massenborough?" Sumbinix asked.

"I told Administrator Carter yesterday," Greg replied, not looking up—hopefully, the tetchiness in his voice would be enough. "That as illegal brewing in stills is still a matter for the Civil Branch, I sent the files up to the Capitol. Any results will probably arrive later in the week along with my brother."

"At least there's that. Have you seen Administrator Carter, by the way?"

"Why?" Greg asked, managing to cut himself off before he added is he still avoiding you?

Administrator Sumbinix gained his standard I don't need to tell you but I have to look. "I need his opinion on something."

"I get the feeling his opinion would trend towards snark at best," Greg said, flipping through the folders for the particular cross-reference he wanted. "You might be better off without him on it."

"I suppose…."

"Great. Now if you don't need me for anything else, I am a little busy here."

Sumbinix took the cue and left, fortunately—Greg didn't want to have to go the rude route. Maybe that was what Administrator Carter's trick was.

He found the folder he needed and pulled it out, flicking through its contents.

And then he blinked, realizing that one of the other folders had been unfamiliar to him.

He went back to the stack of folders, searched until he found the one he wanted, and pulled it out.

Within a few minutes of perusing it, it was clear that this was not an accidental grab.

He snapped the folder shut and stood up, heading for the door.

Administrator Carter was still avoiding Sumbinix, eh?

Well that meant that Head Mage Greg knew exactly where Administrator Carter was.