The Magicians' Realm Chapter 39: Ideas for Moving Forward, a yu-gi-oh fanfic

Chapter 39, everybody! In which Kineil and Idgy plot and Yami and Yuki find things they shouldn't….

Fromtheashtrees, thanks for the review! Maybe a little….I…have no idea anymore (they're going off on their own and doing their own things and not listening to me…which is probably a good thing, come to think of it…). Probably—although I suppose any word could be a name, if it sounds good (Glint, for example). Shame on them—and yes, the Internet is the great equalizer (and that right there is my main argument when I discuss discussion threads). :) Exactly! He's Superman! It's in the name! And yes, that is how Batman rolls….Hmm…I want to say kryptonite is in the American dictionary, but that makes no sense, considering how global Superman is (I could understand something regional like 'dinkum'—which Word doesn't recognize :\). True—and without Batman, Joker wouldn't have a reason to be happy (consider the episode when he thought the Batman was dead). I don't think I got my recommended dose of superheroes until I was twelve, so it may be one of those things that need exposure in formative years (and living in the States probably helps with the superhero exposure, since most of them seem to be based in New York and the tristate area). It's always good to have those. :)

Angiembabe, thanks for the review! Yes, it's a wonderful comic—and that's a wonderful thing! Yes, Yami should (and it fits with the Yu-Gi-Oh! part of the story…)….Except Kineil wouldn't go for it, and Yami needs his tie for his cape….Yami! I have something to run by you!

Heaven's Eagle, thanks for the review! Yes, just a bit….This whole thing started with wanting to have a moment between Yami and Teana segue into character development for Hephaestus and Vulcan, but no, they had to go do this emotional thing. :\ At least it builds character….

FicReader, thanks for the review! No problem! Yeah, it bugs me too at times….That would be good, and it'd clear a few things up….No, he probably wouldn't (ah, very punny—I approve :)). Yes…it was awkward to write too, so it's extra-awkward, but at least we're past it. True, very true—and also very true, unfortunately…hopefully he'll work past that.

References:

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

"What are you doing?"

"I'm holding this wall down," Kineil stated. "It's a very important job. Granted, it's also a tad dull, but someone's got to do it."

"Well then, let me help you," Idgy said, hopping up on the wall and sitting near Kineil's head. "Do I need to lay down on it too, or is sitting on it enough?"

"Laying down on it requires a certain level of balance. And the ability to ignore a very annoying pebble that seems to enjoy digging into a spot between your ribs."

"That is aggravating. So why are you holding down a wall separating two farm holdings?"

"I blame you for this," Kineil said, pointing at Idgy. "You started all this…this romance business with Yami and Teana."

"I did not," Idgy said primly. "I just happened to be at the epicenter when the fallout occurred. And then I told Skul, and we agreed that it was the sort of thing to post at the Revue."

"Which compounded the situation."

"Yes, that was unfortunate."

"And now I'm stuck in the middle of this mess."

"How so?"

"Teana threw me under the bus and Yami ran over me."

"Ouch."

"Yes indeedy. So I figure holding this wall down is a nice way to stay out of the way until they can figure things out themselves. Why are you out here, by the way?"

"I was on my way to get some honey. Should I help with the mess our friends have gotten into?"

"I think you've helped enough."

"Nonsense—I just got the ball rolling and made things come to a head too soon."

"So you admit you had a hand in it."

Idgy sighed. "I tried to help, honest—I'm just not good at that sort of thing. My best friend was in a bad relationship, and I helped her get out—but it followed her and we ended up in a bigger pickle."

"What happened?"

"I got arrested. On the positive side, we got out on the other side in one piece, so there's that."

"You got arrested?"

"Never tell someone you're going to kill them where other people can hear. It just makes things complicated if they show up dead later."

"Ouch."

"Yeah. So, how are we going to fix things?"

"I was hoping this wall would tell me."

"Walls are no good in this situation—we need to tear down the wall between the two."

"To be fair, hitting Yami with a sledgehammer was among my discarded ideas."

"That's not what I mean. We need to get them somewhere where the Commoner-Magician thing isn't a thing."

"Good luck."

"There has to be some way," Idgy moaned, laying down on the wall.

"I've found that just because there has to be something doesn't mean that there is."

"That's a little pessimistic."

"That's a little realistic."

"Who doesn't care about the Commoners or Magicians?"

"Birds? Bees? Trees? Fish? The river?"

Idgy sat up. "That's it!"

"What? What's it?"

"Where do Magicians and Commoners mingle?"

"No clue."

"By the river, Kineil—we've got to get them down to the River's Run."

*/*\*

Hours later saw a lot less dust, but little progress on the spellbook hunt.

"Maybe Dad donated them all," Yuki opined, flipping through a photo album he found. "Hey, here's Dad and Uncle Hotch—boy, they look funny."

Yami leaned over to look. "They're our age there," he noted. "And we'd probably make more progress if you didn't look through every album you found."

"I like looking at these," Yuki objected.

Yami shrugged and pulled a fresh box over.

Something caught his eye.

He glanced up—some sort of blue light, he thought.

He wandered over, wondering what could have caused it; found a new box tucked out of the way.

It was with this one that he hit paydirt.

"Hello, what's this?" he asked, pulling a thick tome out.

Yuki looked over. There was a gold eye embossed on black leather. "Hey, I know that eye—it's on your Puzzle."

Yami glanced down at the object in question. "Yeah, it is," he mused, glancing back at the thick book. "I wonder if it's some sort of family crest." He wiped some grime from it. "Hey wait—it's not exactly the same. Look—there's a skull in the eye."

Yuki looked. It was so.

Yami opened the book, wincing a bit as the leather made a soft cracking noise. He read the page it fell open at.

"All right—jackpot."

"Really?" Yuki asked, reading the page as well. "Hey, that's a spell!"

"Brilliant, Holmes," Yami said, flicking through the rest of the book. It was all handwritten in long, swirling cursive with detailed, tiny notations spotting the margins. He flipped back to the inside cover to see if anyone had written their name there.

Someone had.

Yami froze when he read the name.

Y. Skellington.

"What is it?" Yuki asked.

Yami pointed, unable to say it.

Yuki looked at it. He froze too.

Finally, he looked at Yami.

"Why would we have one of Skellington's spellbooks in our attic?" he asked.

It was beginning to sink in what he held in his hands. One of the Skellington Mage's personal spellbooks—only his strongest spells would have made it in here—

Yami snapped the book shut with authority.

"I don't know," he told Yuki. "But I know what we are going to do with it."