The Magicians' Realm Chapter 59: Dancing in the Square, a yu-gi-oh fanfic

Chapter 59, everybody! In which groundshaking things happen…or not…something definitely happens here. "Tap Dancer's Dilemma" is a real song, by the way—go look it up. :)

The band here is a group of guys who can be seen in my Dragon Tamers folder over on DeviantArt, and are generally used when I need to have a band. And Fifer's is a real place, with exceptionally good cinnamon donuts and apple cider...I'm getting hungry now….

Movie this week is Die Hard with a Vengeance, which is an enjoyable romp featuring Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson outsmarting a bunch of thieves robbing the Federal Reserve—still a jab in the gut when they show the shot of the World Trade Center.

Angiembabe, thanks for the review! Yes it is—check out the Guardians of Ga'Hoole series for more about it. :D And the answer to that is a resounding no….

Fromtheashtrees, thanks for the review! Yes it is! And thank you—happy birthday to you too. :D Yeah…fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your point of view, the weather is starting to shift—so now I want to write Halloween stuff. :\ It was! Wow….

FicReader, thanks for the review! Yes…she did, in the best way. :D Yep! And most likely. Oooh, cool! And yes I do, even if sometimes it's pretty low-key—I went to my first ever comic con earlier this month, and I told everyone I was dressed up as an artist. ;)

References:

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

The partying in the Administrative Square was refreshingly clean, fortunately. Not too loud or boisterous, very family-friendly, very calm.

That ended when Yami's friends showed up.

"I have concerns," Teana informed Yami.

"What sort of concerns?" Yami asked.

"That you know these people."

"You get used to it."

"That's part of the concern."

Yami waved it off and steered her towards the bandstand, where Kineil was rattling off a list of songs she wanted the band to play. It wasn't Rocky and the rest of the Lackadaisy Revue, Teana noticed.

"Mitzi and Atlas throw their own party," he told her when she asked. "Hey, we should swing by!"

"I hope not on the way to the riverside parties."

"What's wrong with those?"

"I'm not sure if I trust you or your friends enough to go through the woods at night with a bunch of revelers darting around."

"You've done it before."

"There wasn't reveling going on then."

"Okay…I think…."

"You have any requests?" the piano player asked—Teana noted his hatband and tie were patterned after piano keys, and wondered how he had managed to keep his suit so pristine white.

"Plenty of couples dances, please," Yami put in.

"And I'm dancing with you because?" Teana asked.

In response, Yami took a deep bow.

"Miss Teana Gardenier, may I please have this dance?" he asked in grandiose manner before flashing her a smile. "See? I asked nicely."

"People are staring."

"They are? So they are. Good for them."

"Yes, wonderful," Kineil noised, before turning back to the sax player. "Play 'Tap Dancer's Dilemma,' will you?"

"Sure thing," the sax player said, before turning to the rest of the band and giving out a few orders.

"Wonderful," Kineil said, turning on her heel and bolting off. "Max! I got them to play it!"

"Woo," Teana heard Maxwell say unenthusiastically.

"Do you like fast dances?" Yami asked Teana.

"I…think so. Maybe," Teana hedged.

"Well then, let's find out, shall we?" Yami asked, leading her to a clearer spot. "You want me to get you a drink?"

"What, you're not joining me?"

"You don't want me dancing to something fast—with something slow I can get away with looking graceful, but me trying to dance to something fast ends up looking like a crane being strangled."

"What an image."

"I know—I'm kind of jealous of Max, actually, what with him being my height and long-limbed too. But he manages to pull it off," Yami said, pointing.

Teana looked—the song had started, and she could see Kineil and Maxwell dancing; yes, Kineil did have taps on, and she was using them, occasionally striking the ground hard enough to send up sparks.

"When did she put those on?" Teana asked.

"She always wears those," Yami pointed out.

"But—wait, if she did, wouldn't we be able to hear that when she walks?"

"You can hear it when she taps her foot—but like Max said, Kineil can sneak in tap shoes; she can sneak up right behind a person without them hearing it. I don't think she even realizes she does it—it's uncanny, really…."

"She can sneak in tap shoes," Teana said blankly.

"I believe that's been established, yes."

"How?"

Yami looked like he bit back his first flip response, if the way he bit his lip and smiled was any indication. "Ah, kind of—Kineil has Injun blood in her. She's quite capable of walking softly in any situation, even when the occasion doesn't call for it."

"You have strange friends."

"That's occurred to me, yes. And for the record, it didn't really occur to me until after I met you."

"Are you saying I'm strange?"

"Maybe a little." The song finished and a slower one started up. "May I have this dance?"

"I don't know—I'm not sure if I'm feeling insulted or not."

"I'm sorry?"

She sighed and leaded him out into a clearer spot. "Come on," she chided. "Let's dance."

*/*\*

Yami climbed up into the attic, followed by Yuki. Man, it was stuffy up here—was it ever going to cool off?

"Lil' Stevie says to look at the pictures," Yuki declared as Yami opened the window.

"Huh?" Yami had to ask.

"He's a Starling."

Yami couldn't help his shoulders sagging as he looked at his brother through half-lidded eyes. "A little birdie told you to look at pictures," he said, deadpan.

"Yeah," Yuki responded.

"Do you have any idea how that sounds?"

"Yeah."

Yami shook his head and waved him off. "Go on, go look at the pictures then—I've got spellbooks to find, if you don't mind."

"You got it."

Oi.

*\*/*

She had managed to talk Yami out of taking her to the Gypsians, but Punkie Night with him had been fun.

Granted, it had also been sleepless—and while she would never tell Yami this, Teana was actually glad her mornings were free now.

The little Starling came to sit on her sill—she gave him a little piece of her donut and dunked a larger chunk in her coffee.

"I'd tell you how my night went," she told him. "But I'm worried that Yami Skellington holds regular conversations with birds."

The little Starling she had named Lil' Stevie simply chirped at her, as if to say that wasn't nearly enough donut. She gave him another little piece.

"Enjoy this," she informed him. "Because if I don't get another job, I won't be able to afford this flat, and the next person might not be so accommodating."

Except there was that standing offer….

"I can't move," she said. "Who would feed you?"

Again, Lil' Stevie replied with a chirp.

"You're sweet, but you can't rely on the kindness of strangers," Teana said, before reflecting on what, exactly, she was doing. "And now I'm carrying on a conversation with a bird. That's nice." And troublesome—Yami and his group was rubbing off on her.

"Hello!"

And now she was bonkers—the bird was talking back.

No wait—that was from the street.

She looked down to see Mitzi May waving up at her.

"Hello," Teana replied, waving back. "You are talking to me, right?"

"Of course I am," Mitzi said. "It's just interesting to see a familiar face over this way. How are you?"

"I'm eating cinnamon donuts from Fifer's."

"Doing good then—I love their cider. Any plans for later?"

"Work, I suppose. What are you doing over this way?"

"I'm off to see a man about a horse," Mitzi replied, which to Teana meant she was evading the question. "Yami mentioned the other day that you were in need of a job to supplement your income."

"I can waitress, if that's what you're after."

"Oh pish—after what I saw last night, I'd be a fool to hire you as a waitress. What do you think of dancing as a career?"

"I don't follow."

"I want to hire you as a dancer."

"And what does that entail?"

"On paper, you're paid to dance. In practice, you're paid to get up on the floor and break the ice so other people start dancing with you."

"Gee, I don't know…shouldn't this sort of thing be handled by your husband?"

"Atlas is currently with Rocky at the racetracks—Atlas is handling business and Rocky…I'm not sure. Atlas probably has him selling lucky pencils."

"Maybe we should wait until he gets back."

"Don't you worry about Atlas, honey," Mitzi said, waving that off. "He lets me handle the business just fine—he knows it's in his better interest. Now I want to see you at the Lackadaisy Revue by eight tonight—we can go over everything then."

"Yeah, but—"

"Wonderful! See you then!"

And with that, Mitzi gave a little finger wave and walked off—how she managed to sashay in heels on cobblestone was beyond Teana, who was now worrying that she walked more like Kineil, who walked more like a boy than a young woman.

And then she actually reflected on the conversation.

"What just happened?" she asked Lil' Stevie.

The little Starling simply chirped.

*/*\*

They had been pawing through the attic for nearly an hour, and Yuki was beginning to get distracted.

"What are we doing again?" Yuki asked.

"Looking for more spellbooks or instructions or—"

"Or?" Yuki asked, glancing over at Yami. He was frozen over a chest.

"What is it?" Yuki asked, crossing over. "Did you find buried treasure?" he mentally kicked himself as he said it; buried treasure would be in the backyard.

Yami mutely showed him an old framed photograph.

Yuki looked.

It kind of looked like Yami, except older and thinner. He had a silly-looking tie holding a Head Mage's cape in place.

"Who is he?" Yuki asked.

"I don't know," Yami said, fishing the photo out of its frame.

"He looks like us," Yuki observed. "Are we related?"

"Probably," Yami muttered, flipping the photo over. "Why else would he be in one of our old chests?"

"But why here and not on the mantle?" Yuki wondered.

Yami sucked in a breath. "What?" Yuki asked.

In response, Yami pointed at the handwriting on the back. Yuki tilted his head to look—

And sucked in a breath as well.

It read, in neat handwriting: Yami Skellington.

Beneath that was a date over a thousand years old.

Yuki looked at Yami. "We're not…."

"Related?" Yami finished. "It certainly looks that way."

Yuki went wide-eyed, absorbing this information. Finally, he spoke.

"Yami?" he asked, suddenly fearful of his brother's first name. "Now what?"

Yami, however, was slowly nodding, and slowly smiling. "This explains it. This explains everything."

Yuki looked surprised at his brother, who seemed the picture of relief. "Don't you get it?" Yami asked. "This is why the Administrators held me back. They're afraid I'll turn out just like him. Because I'm…related…to…." He trailed off, the implications sinking in.

Yuki plopped down. Yami was right, this did explain everything. His natural talent…."I didn't think Skellington had kids," Yuki said.

Yami gave it some thought. "No, but he had two sisters. They could have saved everything."

"It still doesn't explain it….Does it?"

Yami looked at the photo again. "What was Mom's maiden name?"

"Skelton," Yuki replied promptly.

"'Skelton' sounds an awful lot like 'Skellington', doesn't it?"

Yuki digested this. "That means Mom's related to…."

"That we're related to…."

They were silent for the longest time.

Yuki finally addressed the issue.

"Now what?"