The Magicians' Realm Chapter 49: A Timely Encounter, a yu-gi-oh fanfic

Chapter 49, everybody! Which is a touch short, but the way this selection is going required breaking it into a second chapter to keep the pacing consistent and tie everything up together so the next little arc (Yami's house) could be addressed on its own. And to be honest, these two chapters were needed to satisfactorily explain where Anzu has been these past several chapters.

In other news: as it turned out, the bat from last week had a buddy. D: So now I'm torn between being terrified of sleeping in my own room and not being able to handle sleeping on the floor another night. But hopefully, we've plugged the hole the little buggers were sneaking in through so….Wish us luck.

The movie this week is Now You See Me 2—which is pretty good as far as sequels go, although the ending wasn't nearly as wham as the first movie. But it's still a pretty good movie, and now I kind of want to learn how to throw cards. Also, Daniel Radcliffe's role in the movie was of satisfactory length, rather than being a passing "oh look who's here" number. :D

Fromtheashtrees, thanks for the review! I want to say upwards of ten—after that, it kind of gets beyond "well it's one for everybody in the family." This is true…but sometimes the simple motivation may be the only one….Maybe it is—and yes, for some reason, ABC Family (or FreeForm, as they're calling themselves now) regularly shows the Harry Potter films. Yes, or the pocket watch, which requires popping it open—I have a nice one with a train on the cover that I've been trying to swing around into my hand like on The Lone Ranger (thus far I have failed, but oh well). But it ticks a mite too loud for me to be convinced it's dying anytime soon. Yes, I hate those—especially when they've got really awesome premises (like The Intelligence Theory) and yet they haven't been touched in years. Although in my case, story neglect generally comes from a combination of warm weather/college/other story suddenly grabbing my face and yelling "Work on me!" Yes they did—which was very nice of them, as it saved me from an untenable flub. Well, since she quit one and another was a seasonal job, she's got three jobs she's juggling (which I suppose isn't too ridiculous, considering they don't have similar hours). Ah….Aha, your friends remind me of my college mates from my first college: I had most of my exams squared away because I stayed awake in class, had taken said classes before in high school, and did the homework—even without already being familiar with the material, it was enough to allow me to have some confidence in going into exam week (which, on the same token, was probably why I was consistently bored at that college…).

Angiembabe, thanks for the review! Ironically, the first thing I thought of after the first(!) bat was squared away was of Mavis going "holy rabies!" Yes, we've got plenty of those around. *whack* Ah, I fill the same role but for wasps—I could never see the point of needlessly angering something that's a mite tougher than usual and can sting multiple times. D: Yes indeed! Now if only Yami doesn't blow it….

FicReader, thanks for the review! Ah, I thought that was you! :D Yes—I was quite impressed with Time's castle, myself (and those stupid me-shaped doors XD). Aha, yes! Reid's my favorite character in Criminal Minds too—and kudos for studying psychology: I had to take a psychology class for every degree, and after three rounds with that subject, I'm ready to throw in the towel (I was ready after the first round, who am I kidding?). It is interesting…and definitely bigger on the inside, although more similar to Foster's than the soul room (although now I'm thinking I need to include something similar at some point—they are magic, after all). Not to spoil it, but if you're familiar with Whipstaff Manor from the Casper movie, it's kind of like that (I want a house like that, to be honest—or at least the floor in the foyer).

References:

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

"Can I ask you something?"

"Me first," Teana insisted, turning to face the much taller Skellington. "Are you stalking me, or did you cast a tracking spell on me when I wasn't looking?"

Yami pondered that statement. "A tracking spell would be easier…."

"Yami…."

"I didn't, honest," he said, holding his hands up. "I just have very, very nosy friends. Moving on—if you could work whatever job you wanted, which one would you work?"

"My turn," Teana said. "The job you have, do you actually do any work?"

"But you didn't answer my question."

"And you're not answering mine."

"I work," he said, sounding miffed. "It may surprise you, but not everybody works all day, and a lot of people do just fine with one job."

"I wish I had their rent. Now if you'll excuse me…."

"If renting's the problem, you could live at my house," Yami said, continuing to follow her to the bookkeepers. "You can see what it's like Thursday."

"Oh dear, you did get my letter. And no, I am not shacking up with you."

"I wouldn't call it that. And if we are calling it that, I'm kicking out Heph, Vul, and Kineil, because that mental image is too horrifying to live with."

"They live with you?"

"They blew up their old place—I think I told you this. And I was entertaining renting to more people until you used that terminology."

Yes, he had mentioned that, she thought. "As charming as the idea is, I'm going to have to pass. My current neighbors don't have the habit of blowing places up."

"Sounds remarkably boring," Yami opined, stepping ahead and opening the door for her. "You're welcome, by the way."

"Thank you," she said. "And remember what I said about not cramming a year into a month."

"Well, you know how the Hippies in the woods say—we know each other on a cosmic level, but on the tangible level, we've got a lot of catching up to do."

"There's another statement that's horrifying to picture."

"I think I may have quoted it wrong."

"Goodbye, Mr. Skellington."

"Must you call me that?"

"It pleases me. Good day."

He looked bemused as he walked off.

And as she punched into work, it occurred to her that she hadn't answered his question.

Oh well.

*/*\*

Despite the scare Sunday, Yami was back full steam ahead the next day. Having something to do, instead of sitting around and twiddling his thumbs, had given him his fire back.

"Hey! Yami!"

He skidded to a halt, looking around at that exclamation—

"Anzu!" he said, smiling as she jogged to him. "Howzit?"

"Well, I'm doing fine," she said, reaching him. "Although I can't say how you're doing, since I haven't seen you for nearly a week now."

Oops.

He gave her a sheepish look and scratched the back of his neck—to be honest, he hadn't really been spending time with anybody since he found that spellbook. Well, except for Yuki, and that was only because he followed Yami around everywhere. His friends were used to this behavior.

Anzu obviously wasn't, and it occurred to him that he hadn't made much of an effort.

"Sorry," he said finally. "I've…been distracted."

"I guessed as much," she said. "So! Now that I've found you, you can catch me up—what changed?"

Ah, what a question—and how much could he conceivably tell her, he wondered. He glanced around.

"Not here," he said, making a small gesture. "Come on, let's take a hike."

*\*/*

Teana was now convinced that Yami Skellington had her schedule memorized, considering he was right there when she got off of work.

"May I take you to dinner?" he asked her.

"May I have some time for my heart to restart?" she asked him, patting her chest. "Please tell me you weren't standing there all day waiting for me to come out."

"Of course not! I got your hours from Mordecai," he said, steering her along. "So about dinner…."

"I'd rather not eat at the River's Run again, if it's all the same to you."

"I can live with that—besides, I have a different locale in mind. Little barbecue joint in the woods—you'll love it."

"And what if I don't want to go in the woods with you?"

"Whyever not?"

"Would this be the part where I discover that you're one of those Magicians, and you need a human sacrifice for one of your spells?"

"Ew, no. I wouldn't touch one of those spells."

"So they do exist."

"Unfortunately. There are some really sick people out there."

"Don't wonder why Commoners give you sideways glances."

"I always thought it was because of the hair," Yami said, rolling his eyes back like he'd actually be able to see it.

"There is an awful lot of it."

"Yeah, but it's always grown like that. Ought to take you to visit Dr. Finkelstein—he's got this thing going with Dr. Grouse about tracking strains and families of Chaos still around; they think I qualify with the hair."

"And just when I was starting to relax around you."

"Really?"

"Now I don't want to be around you—it might be bad for my health."

"Nonsense—there hasn't been a spontaneous human-Chaos shift since the Great Dearth; the doctors think the genes stabilized or something. I'm not entirely sure, since that's generally the part I fall asleep at."

"Sounds stimulating."

"It is, honestly, but then they start using technical terms. Now come on, before the Hippies clean Xohan out."

"'Xohan'?"

"The guy who runs the barbecue place."

"I agreed to that?"

"You implied it. Subtly."

"It must have been very subtle then."

"Please?" he asked, clasping his hands and trying for a puppy-dog face.

"Will you stop acting ridiculous during the course of the meal?"

"I'll try—I'm not sure what constitutes acting ridiculous."

"I'll let you know."

"Lovely. Then—"

"You're being ridiculous."

"What an evening this will be."

Teana couldn't agree more.