The Magicians' Realm Chapter 52: Voodoo and Booze, a yu-gi-oh fanfic

Chapter 53, everybody, and happy Independence Day! Debated heavily about posting this on the holiday, but then I figured I didn't say anything beforehand, so it wasn't fair to you all. So celebrate a major event in history by reading this very long chapter—ten pages in Word, due to the fact that I couldn't find a proper place to break it up. So enjoy this chapter about…the older crew getting wasted….Don't drink, kids. ;) In other news: all the booze listed is real booze, which I know because I got up and actually looked at our liquor cabinet when I wrote this chapter up. And then dusted it. And Teana quotes Lucille Ball at one point….Let's just say that the Fireball's song "Bottle of Wine" describes Marik and Bakura quite well here.

Enchanté Mademoiselle is apparently French for "delighted to meet you, ma'am"—I've heard it on Beauty and the Beast and The Princess and the Frog, and apparently have been misspelling it. Fortunately, I had enough sense to look it up before posting. :)

Movie this week is Finding Dory, which—while a fun summer flick—doesn't strike me as one of Pixar's strongest entries. Baby Dory is cute, though.

On a sad note, the little baby Starling I told you all about last chapter died last Tuesday…it's amazing how someone who's in your life for a week makes such an impact on you. In lieu of flowers, please go birdwatching and appreciate the beauty and personality of our fine feathered friends.

Angiembabe, thanks for the review! Yes, we were surprised he lasted so long….Yes, finally, progress on her part. Good question—I'm going to guess making it so they don't have to clean their own room anymore. ;) I don't know—we had to do 'white glove' cleaning at my first college, and I would have loved to have a little sock-doll cleaning the baseboards. D:

FicReader, thanks for the review! Yes indeedy—and Dad tends to read whatever fantasy novels I finish and hand off to him, so he's read Skulduggery Pleasant and most of Rick Riordan's books (although his reading of Harry Potter came from us taking him to the fourth movie). Ooh, I shall look that one up! Love a more realistic take on the Pokémon world (should probably work more on my Pokémon fics so they can come up here someday). Add another one to look up—I need to get busy….

Fromtheashtrees, thanks for the review! Yes indeed…and yes indeed—that's probably a good sign, come to think of it….This is true. Had to remind myself it's winter where you are….I think my problem with climaxes stems from my brain going 'climax=end of story' and then dragging its metaphorical feet (now to kick it in its metaphorical rear). Tell him to quit that. Have fun with that!

References:

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

If Skellington was seeking to impress her by showing her his house, Teana reflected, he was doing a very good job.

She had been initially overwhelmed by the size of the place, then by the fact that Yami had gotten giants to help him construct it. He promised to introduce her to some, and promised her that giants did not in fact grind people's bones to make their bread.

Granted, considering the size of just the foyer itself, big enough to fit her apartment in, she could believe giants had made this.

It had also taken her a moment to recover from the fact that Hephaestus, Vulcan, and Kineil lived in the house as well. Honestly, she had thought Yami was joking about that. She had been hoping he had been joking about that.

"They don't bother me," Yami told her, when she had asked. "This place is so big that I barely notice any noise. Besides, it's more convenient than next-door neighbors."

They were currently sitting in the solarium, a glass half-dome on the side of the house with huge panes looking out over the forest, all sprawled about the numerous couches populating the room. Someone had made snacks, and they were discussing how people just came and went in Yami's house.

"Don't you have a lock?" Teana asked.

"Hmm?" Yami asked, his mouth full of cheese and crackers.

"That thing on your door. The one with the hole that people can spy through."

Kineil started laughing from her perch on the back of the couch, prompting Hephaestus and Vulcan to look up from the radio they were repairing. Gears and such were scattered about a coffee table, and Vulcan was holding a screwdriver in his mouth, for some reason.

"Considering I know people who can pick locks, it'd be kind of pointless to lock the door," Yami observed. "Besides, I like the company."

"Good," Kineil observed. "Because more's coming."

"What makes you so sure?" Teana asked, looking up at her from her seat on the couch proper.

"I heard the door open."

Teana stared.

"Kineil has Injun blood in her," Yami explained. "Her senses are sharper than ours."

"And don't you forget it."

Sure enough, someone came into the room. "There you are!" the new person said in a rich baritone. "I was beginning to wonder if anyone was even home."

Teana stared at the colorful newcomer. Magenta and gold seemed to be his predominant colors, with so many bits and bobs on his clothes that she was surprised he could move. He had darkly tanned skin and spiky sandy hair, a top hat, and a gold mask that looked like a bird face covering half his face.

"Marik!" Kineil exclaimed, waving. "I see you brought refreshments."

"Of course I did," the man named Marik said, shifting the multiple bottles he carried around so he could read the labels. "Pardon me, but my French is terrible. I believe these are wine, whiskey, and tequila, however. And this one I don't know, but the man I got it from swears it's booze."

Kineil took the last one and unscrewed the lid, sniffing the contents. "It's enough to make my hair curl, so I'd say it's moonshine. And tequila isn't French."

"By the end of the bottle you won't care," Marik observed, putting the bottles on the table next to the snacks. He happened to glance over and spot Teana, who had been quietly observing the newcomer. "Ah! If I had known a lady'd be present, I'd have polished up." He doffed his hat and bowed to Teana. "Enchanté, Mademoiselle, Marik Sol Ishtar, at your service."

"I thought you said your French was terrible," Teana observed drily. When Marik grimaced, she continued. "And you missed the Masquerade Ball by a couple of weeks."

"What, this?" Marik asked, indicating his mask. "This is supposed to be here." He did the doffing thing again. "I am a Voodoo King—the mask is a sign of my status."

"Voodoo King?" Teana repeated blankly.

"They're never as well-known," Marik sighed dramatically.

"He does voodoo," Yami said, pointing. "Miss Teana, this is Marik Sol Ishtar, the bane of my liquor cabinet."

"I do indeed, and I am not," Marik replied, plucking a hair from Yami's head. He pulled a little doll from an inside pocket, wrapped the hair around its neck, and handed it to Teana. "Here: in case he gives you any grief."

Teana looked at the little hand-woven doll. "What is this, a voodoo doll?"

"Yes, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't use it," Yami said, grimacing.

"Why?" Teana asked, playing with one of the arms. "It's not like these things work."

"Let me see," Kineil said, taking the doll from her. She made it slap itself in the face.

Yami followed suit.

"Ow," he noised.

"I'm unconvinced," Teana said.

"I am too," Marik agreed. "Hit him again."

Yami snatched the doll away before she could do so.

"Do you guys script this stuff, or what?" Teana asked.

"You doubt the sincerity of my voodoo dolls?" Marik asked, sounding affronted.

"Just a bit."

"Here," Marik said, snatching the doll away from Yami and plunking it down on the table. "Serve Miss Teana one of those cookies, why don't you—make yourself useful."

Teana watched the doll, unimpressed.

And then it started to move.

"Wow, I haven't heard a scream like that since that one murder show on the teleradio!" Kineil exclaimed.

"I can't believe that you people consider that normal!" Teana yelped, pointing.

The doll, unimpressed, simply got a cookie and crossed over to Teana's side of the table, holding the cookie up.

"No thank you," Teana said.

"Don't be rude," Marik chided.

"But what if I don't want a cookie?"

"Who doesn't want cookies?" Marik asked, taking the cookie from the voodoo doll. "Everyone loves cookies! And cake," he added, popping it in his mouth.

"Not everyone appreciates being serviced by voodoo dolls."

"Why not?"

"I don't know—personal reasons, health reasons…creepy reasons," she said, a little unnerved by how the voodoo doll was looking at her—at least, she thought it was. It was hard to tell with those button eyes.

"Ignore her," Marik advised the voodoo doll. It did so and hopped off the table, heading for the windows of the solarium.

"Where is it going?" Teana asked.

"To scrub the windows," Marik told her, helping himself to some booze. "They can be very industrious when they want to be."

"I like the idea of something else doing my windows—I hate that job."

"Too late, you turned him down."

"Is he for real?" Teana decided to ask Kineil.

"About as real as Yami," Kineil said.

"That's depressing."

"It wasn't meant to encourage."

"Here," Marik said, handing Teana a glass of mystery liquor. "It'll make you feel better."

"Wow," Kineil said. "You really are trying to cut back."

"I try."

"I smell booze!" someone in the hall declared.

"Bakura's here," Kineil declared, looking at Yami.

"I noticed," Yami said.

A spiky white head poked in—Teana recognized Bakura Necromancer from the Masquerade Ball. "Marik, you old dog!" he exclaimed. "Is that for me?"

"No," Marik said, hiding the bottle under his coat and holding something else out to him. "This is for you."

Bakura looked down his nose at it. "Isn't that Yami's sissy liqueur?"

"I wouldn't call it sissy," Yami interposed finally. "You might hurt its feelings."

"That's true," Marik said, putting it down. "It could spoil."

"Ta. I think I'll avail myself of this instead," Bakura said, reaching for the bottle Kineil had identified as moonshine.

"Should he?" Teana asked Yami.

"No," Kineil said. "Bakura, remember what happened last time."

"I don't," Bakura replied. "That's the mark of good moonshine. What did happen last time?" he asked Marik in an undertone.

"You both woke up in the Administration Square fountain with naught but your skivvies on," Yami said.

"I have the daguerreotypes to prove it," Kineil said, grinning.

Teana handed her glass to Kineil. "Would you rather have this?"

"I don't know," Kineil admitted. "I'm not sure which it is." She stuck a finger in the glass and then in her mouth. "Tequila. I think I will, thanks."

"That wasn't for you," Marik said to Kineil as Teana slid off the couch.

"It's mine now."

"I would like to go home before the room gets too inebriated," Teana told Yami.

"It was too late the minute Marik came in with those fumes," Yami told her, pouring two glasses of his so-called sissy-liqueur. "Here, try this instead—Mizti May brews it especially for me, as per my request of keeping my liver."

"Livers are overrated," Bakura tossed, knocking back a glass of clear liquid—the moonshine, if the way his spikes of hair stood up was any indication.

"Did you know," Kineil said, pitching her voice a bit louder than usual as she held out her glass for another hit. Marik obliged. "That the liver is supposed to filter out all the junk and gunk that goes into our systems? And then the doctors want us to eat that stuff! How is that healthy?"

"I tell you, those doctors are trying to kill us," Marik said, flopping down on the couch and drinking straight out of the bottle.

"I don't want any of that," Teana said, pointing at the bottle Marik was holding.

"Don't worry about it—alcohol burns off germs."

"Tis true," Kineil said, squinting at her empty glass. "They use booze as an anti…something…they use booze to…disinfect! That's it—disinfect wounds on occasion."

"Can we have some of that?" Hephaestus called over.

"I don't know," Yami returned. "The last time you guys drank, you lost half of your tools!"

"In the Administration Square fountain?" Teana asked, finally sampling her drink. It was sweet-tasting and smooth, but burned the back of her throat.

"I think in the river," Yami said, looking at her. "What do you think?"

"It reminds me of cough medicine."

"My childhood wishes it had cough medicine that tasted like this."

"I'm sure. Your friends are getting loud, by the way."

"An unfortunate side effect."

"You suffer from no cough," Bakura interposed, appearing so suddenly on her other side that she jumped, startled. "Therefore, you need no cough syrup. Might I interest you in a different brand? Kahlua? Schnapps? Brandy? Amaretto?"

"Bakura, we've talked about raiding my liquor cabinet," Yami moaned.

"Did we say we liked it?" Bakura said, swapping out Teana's glass with another so quickly that she barely registered the switch.

"How much do you have?" Teana asked.

"Only a few glasses thus far."

"Not you."

"I have bottles accumulating from Christmas gifts and other special holidays," Yami said. "Normally I try to fob it all off on the Revue, but I do keep a handful around on occasion for flavoring food. When it survives a visit from these two, that is."

"We're connoisseurs," Bakura argued. "And Yami doesn't charge us per glass."

"Maybe I should start."

Teana carefully sampled the new booze. "Not bad," she said. "Less cough-syrupy. Still burns, though."

"That's how you know it's working," Bakura said, topping off her glass before returning to his own.

"I question your ability to select friends," Teana said to Yami.

"What's wrong with them?" Yami asked as Hephaestus and Vulcan finally came over and sampled the drinks.

"I can hear their livers crying from here."

"Those pesky dirty organs," Marik opined.

"And I think Kineil has pickled herself."

"What makes you say that?"

In response, Teana tapped Kineil, who had been very quiet and still for well over a minute.

She fell off her perch on the back of the couch and landed in a heap on the floor.

"It's why she doesn't end up in compromising positions in public places. Don't go getting any ideas," Yami added quickly, pointing at the boys present.

"Too late," Marik replied. "Granted, I'd love to actually act on the idea, but that would require getting off this couch and leaving the booze unattended."

"I'd watch it for you," Bakura offered.

"I repeat: I'd hate to get off this couch and leave the booze unattended."

"I think this is stronger than I thought," Teana said, looking at her drink. "I know I've taken a few sips of this, but every time I look down its full."

"That would be Bakura topping it off whenever you're not looking," Yami told her.

"Right. I'm leaving now."

"Are you sure?" Yami asked, following her as she put down her drink and maneuvered around the couch, carefully stepping over Kineil's softly snoring form. "You're not walking too steadily."

"I think the room's moving."

"Are you sure it's not you?"

"Pretty sure."

"I think you might be a little drunk," Yami said, following her to the massive foyer.

"Who me? Noooo—I haven't had a dingle strop!"

"No, I think you've had more than that," Yami said, smiling.

"You look drunk too," Teana observed, trying to get into her coat.

"I feel drunk—I don't know why…I don't drink that much….Maybe Bakura swapped my glass when I wasn't looking….What was in that stuff?" he called back into the living room.

"Ingredients include disrespectability, inebriation, and liquid lightning!" Bakura called, laughing as he toasted with Marik and threw back another shot.

"I have to go," Teana said, opening the door.

"I'll go with you," Yami said, following.

"You're being remarkably forward."

"There's no room for going sideways here."

"Don't follow me."

"Will you settle for beside you?"

"Good night, Mr. Skellington."

"What? The night is young!"

"It's ten o' clock!"

"You have no idea my hours."

"Fine," she said, opening the door. "But you have to catch me first."

They ran outside, Teana laughing and feeling remarkably lightheaded as Yami caught up with her and hugged her from behind.

"What did I just drink?" she asked.

"Oh, you think that's fun?" Yami asked, resting his cheek on her head. She could feel him grinning. "Malik—Malroy—Malvern…whatsisface…he brought back some booze once that was more like explosives than alcohol."

"That sounds dangerous."

"We had to drink it outside because we would have blown up the house otherwise."

"That sounds dangerous."

"Very," he said, turning his head so his nose was against her hair.

"Mr. Skellington," Teana said quickly, pulling his arms up and ducking under them so she was facing him. "I don't believe I've had enough to drink to justify that sort of behavior."

He looked fit to burst from laughing. "Really? You don't look all that steady on your feet."

She scoffed and walked away, picking up her pace when she heard him behind her. She rounded the corner of the house, tripped, and rolled down the hill, yelping with alarm and then laughing at how she must look. She straightened her skirt as Yami imitated her for the heck of it, wrapped up like a Christmas present by the time he reached her. It took a few minutes to recover, she was laughing so hard. Oh, her ribs….

She flopped down on the grass when her laughter devolved into breathless hees, enjoying the late night. There was starting to be some nip in the night air, but it was refreshing—this September had been unseasonably warm.

Yami seemed to be recovering slightly too. "So what do you think?" he asked, sounding like he'd still rather be laughing.

"It's such a house," she said, waving vaguely in the building's direction. "Wait—is it over there? I'm not sure right now."

"It is," Yami said, sitting up. "We're lucky to have stopped here—another eight feet and we'd be rolling down a much steeper incline."

"That's good then. Now if you don't mind, I'd like to go home now—which direction is that?"

Yami looked like he wasn't sure whether to laugh or not at her. "I can't let you go home like this—you'll fall down a hill!"

"I thought we discussed that I…I know not to roll down a hill."

Yami shook his head, grinning. "No, no—what kind of Head Mage would I be if I let you take a header like that?"

"You're a lousy Head Mage," she said, propping herself up on her elbows and smiling. "I don't even think you're a Magician."

He tried sitting up, but he was still tangled in his cape and therefore failed. She couldn't help but laugh again as she soaked in the scenery—moonlight didn't quite illuminate the slope they were on, but his house on the hill still had several lights on, making large yellow squares on the lawn.

"It is pretty," she sighed, looking to the Giant Mountains and how they looked like big black jagged teeth, coming up on the stars.

"You could stay, you know."

She looked at him, startled by how soft and serious he sounded just then. "What?"

"I mean," Yami said, suddenly focusing on untangling himself. "I mean—what's stopping you, honestly?"

"Mr. Skellington, do I look like that kind of girl?"

"I don't—what kind of girl?"

"The kind that canoodles in unmarriage—er, does deeds out of lockwed—what are we even talking about?"

"I don't know anymore."

She put her head on her knees. "I need to sleep for a year," she moaned. "I have to get home."

"Not in that state," Yami said, before exclaiming in triumph—she looked up to see that he had finally untangled himself.

"I have to," she moaned, burying her face in her knees again. "I have to go to bed…I'm tired…I'm too tired to sleep….I feel cold…."

"Come on," he said, easing her upright. "Let's get you inside and on a horizontal surface—preferably a warm one."

"I'm not going to bed with you," she murmured, trying to shove him away. He kept hold of her.

"That's not what I mean," Yami said, hugging her slightly. "I wouldn't do anything you wouldn't want me to do, and I get the feeling that's top of the list."

"Y'd take advantage…." Wow, sleepiness did make you slur words.

Yami laughed. "I get the feeling I'd take my life into my own hands if I did. No, Miss Gardenier, I am the perfect picture of perspectibility…no wait…I'm…that other word. Boy, I need to go to bed."

"'M not going with you," she said as he managed to open the side door.

"There'd be room, but there's stairs. I think I'll be sleeping on the ground floor tonight too," he added, navigating around the solarium, where noise and light were still spilling out. "Right this way."

He led her into a dark room and slowly progressed—she had the feeling he was groping for furniture.

"Wanna go home now," she muttered, rubbing her face. No dice—still groggy.

"Not in the state you're in," Yami said before making a positive noise—he must have found what he was looking for. He eased her down into some form of chair—a recliner, she realized as he opened it.

"I have pillows here somewhere," he muttered, although she wasn't sure—she was fading fast.

"Don't try anything," she murmured, rolling to her side and pillowing her head with her arm.

"Like what?" he asked, sounding like he honestly didn't know what she was talking about. He eased a pillow under her head, and then produced a blanket a few moments later.

"Comfy?" he asked.

"Mmm," she noised.

A long pause—so long that she was certain he had left.

"Miss Gardenier?" he asked suddenly.

"Nnh?"

"I just realized—when I was getting ready to say good night—I've never actually told you how I really feel."

"Mmm," she noised, almost gone.

"Miss Gardenier?"

She didn't answer—maybe if she didn't, he'd let her go the rest of the way and get some much needed rest.

She felt a breath stir her bangs right before she felt the light kiss on her forehead.

"I love you."

She opened her bleary eyes and lifted her head slightly, but he was already gone. Or maybe he had already left, and she had been dreaming.

But….

She rested her head on her pillow again and let sleep overtake her.