The Magicians' Realm Chapter 73: Early Birds, a yu-gi-oh fanfic

Chapter 73, everybody! In which we act like we're going to start entertaining a regular schedule again, a reference to that new Delta commercial comes into play, and I curse this stinking document. Randomly, it'll change to first person, or change one character's name to another—tonight, I was treated to having to re-edit the whole section I had typed up the last time I had worked on this, seeing as how the document saw fit to change all instances of Yami in that section to Anzu. And it's saved in the cloud, so I can't exactly blame my cruddy dead Dell or anything like that. Why?...

Angiembabe, thanks for the review! It's good to be back! :D Yes it was—I know, but it left me super-jazzed for the rest of that day. Ah, but I didn't say he was the character most worthy of emulation: I said he was the strongest character from a writing perspective. Kaiba is what Full Sail University would call an active character—his actions cause the plot, and when plot happens to him, he does everything he can to put the ball back in his court. Yugi is the heroic character, and the one worthy of emulation—but even in the DSoD movie, Yugi is a reactive character; that is, plot happens and then he reacts to it (after covering that in class I went back to my stories and examined them—Yugi in CAD is extremely prone to this, as he doesn't actually instigate anything). We were taught that reactive characters aren't as strong from a writing perspective, and it takes a lot of work to make them work—but as you can see with the example of Yugi, when they do work, they still work well. :) Yes, I kind of feel bad for Yugi—"When I graduate, I'm going to move someplace where Kaiba can't find me and randomly demand duels from me."

FluffyIdiotIsI, thanks for the review! YES! Bad things happen when the birdie does not have his donut. I can imagine that, actually….Although it might start with Teana noticing Yami and saying "What are you doing?" I was actually a little stuck as to what to write next for those two—Kineil kicking them out of the house seems like a nice start, thank you (one of your earlier reviews actually inspired portions of this and the next chapter, so thanks for that as well). :D Yes! They're so beeped that it's not even funny. Oh, there's going to be jokes like that, don't worry….Haha, I was actually thinking of that line from Lilo and Stitch when you first suggested the lobster—"Lilo, you lolo—do we have a lobster door? No. We have a dog door—we are getting a dog!" Although I can see an administrobster lurking by the door and waiting to pinch someone like Maxwell on the ankle….Yes….Actually, I do have a couple of playlists for the story (and I've tried writing traditionally before—it always ends with "I have a computer—what am I doing?"). I do write in patchwork fashion—writing the chunks that I already know and then stringing them together—although it does leave me high and dry on occasion. I think it was less of that and more of another story just muscling this one out until I wrote it all out. And then waiting for these guys to come back. I'll try! ^v^

Fromtheashtrees, thanks for the review! Wise counsel….Ah, thank you—I was really frustrated with myself, since I didn't want to be one of those writers who leave things for months, but other stories kept demanding what little free time I had (on the positive side, once I get some of my current stories finished, I might have enough to start publishing one of them). And good news, the Mac is fixed, so Glint and company is back as well. :D Oooh, lucky—it only showed once at my local theater (but it was rewarding). And that—is why my parents did not accompany me into the theater (Mom watched the first Pokémon movie in theaters with me, and I think that was enough anime for her to last her lifetime). Oh my goodness yes—so glad I dressed as Kaiba; it was ironically appropriate (or appropriately ironic, if you prefer). This is true—flatly denying anything supernatural, and the finding out that the guy who challenged him and his abilities on a regular basis just walked off into the light…and yes, that did feel like the series' true ending (I'll maintain it until my dying day: the last season didn't feel properly coherent enough to feel like a last season—dump all this new information on us, not focus on the main characters, and then bam, done). Yes—we were told point-blank at Full Sail University that our dialogue was to not sound like real dialogue; if it did, it would end up with a lot of hems and haws and half-started threads that never go anywhere. I know, right? And my Mom informs me that my grandfather said that the worst snowstorms he ever saw were in March and April, so….True.

References:

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

Yami Skellington had managed to doze off a little—if nothing else, because boredom and mental overstimulation tended to do that. Plus the fact that he was in his home dimension once more—his magic was resonating with the natural magic and rebuilding itself—

Door opened—people were starting their days. Heigh-ho, heigh-ho, tis off to—hello.

Either he had really truly gone mad during his banishment, or the spitting image of Teana herself had just passed beneath him, sensible shoes tapping against the cobblestone as she hastened away in that very Teana-like way of hers.

It couldn't be. It just couldn't.

That didn't stop him from winging after her.

He kept a respectable distance, easy enough to do by simply gliding along and adjusting a feather or two when necessary. When her final destination became evident—the Delvaire Public Library, how convenient!—he lighted down on the stone railing ahead of her. Ta-da!

She spotted him, blinked, jerked her head back. Ah, so he surprised her! And she recognized him! Maybe it was—

"Horus?" she asked. "What are you doing here? I didn't think Yami got up this early."

Horus? And better yet, Yami?

"Ah, no," he said. "Guess again."

"Oh…kay, so hat-birds are more common than I would have guessed."

Do what? "No, no, no—I'm not a hat-bird! Don't tell me you've never seen a Hagsfiend before!" Not when Hagsfiends tended to flock to Magicians to employ themselves as familiars! Delvaire should be choked with them!

…Come to think of it, he hadn't seen any around….

"A Hagsfiend? Is that what you are?"

"More or less. You must be very impressed, I'm sure."

"It explains Horus' attitude. So where do you come from?"

"Up north." Which wasn't a lie—Hagsfiends tended to come from tundra locations, and Yami did hail from north of here originally. "You seem remarkably nonplussed about talking birds."

"I have a friend whose hat turns into one. And then he turned another friend of mine's ribbon into a bird, so…."

"Ooh, he must be very talented—what's his name?" he asked, stepping higher up the stone railing with interest.

"I get the feeling you already know—Yami."

He very nearly fell off the railing at that—she—she—

"How?" was the only part he could get out at the moment.

"I think it was the way you were fishing for compliments."

"Yes but—you actually look younger! How'd you do that?"

"Flattery gets you nowhere."

The only thing he could do was sit there and tip his head at her, first one way, then the other. Just…just….

No. No, he had—she had—she couldn't have—

"Are you speechless now?" she asked. "Because as great as that is to see, I really do have to get to work, you know."

That right there—it was so Teana—

"How?" he had to ask. "Just…how?"

"Because I answered an ad in the paper? You're really not making any sense."

None of this was. Did he in his younger years ever live in Delvaire with a little lookalike and try a dimensional summoning? This was all very confusing.

"I think I just blew a few fuses in my brain," he said finally.

"You look like it," she said. "So now what? You un-bird and walk me in? Or haven't you figured that out yet?"

Un-birding. That might be a good idea. Except, you know, for the little fact that he was supposed to be hiding.

But….

"I think I'll keep the feathers on for now," he said, looking down at himself. "It's very refreshing."

"I was going to ask you what happens to your clothes, but now I don't want to know."

Yami looked down at himself once more, considering. "You know, I'm not really sure."

She rolled her eyes, smiling, and headed up the steps. "Well, see you later."

"Hey!" he said, making a snap decision and flying after her. "Why don't I come with? I could perch on a bust while you work and say nevermore repeatedly."

"Sounds entertaining."

"It is—especially if I sit extremely still and let everyone think I'm stuffed." And it would give him the chance to observe without putting his foot in his mouth like he usually did.

"You are very weird," she said, stepping in. "All right, but don't make a mess."

"I'm offended you would even think that," he said, lofting in and turning a circle as she shut the door.

He made sure to take a deep breath and scan the rows as he followed her deeper in. Not now, but later, definitely.

And in the meantime, he could get down to the mystery of who she was and how she was here.

*\*/*

The kitchen was not occupied, which gave Teana plenty of time to root through a few cupboards and put on some coffee before leaving through the front door and walking around to the side lawn; it seemed like the safer option.

Lil' Stevie hopped over to where she stopped.

"I found bread," she announced. "So you'll have to settle for that until I can get back to Fifer's."

Lil' Stevie chirped at that declaration. Teana had the feeling he didn't much care one way or the other.

She kneeled down next to him, pinched a piece of bread off the loaf before flicking it near him. He hopped over to the bread piece and ate it, head bobbing as he swallowed. That done, she repeated the action, until Lil' Stevie's little belly bulged.

"No, you've had enough," she said, when he chirped at her. "Look at you—you're fit to burst."

Lil' Stevie chirped again, bounced around the yard as she stood and tore a chunk of bread off to nibble on herself. Well, at least he was happy.

Of course, she wasn't sure what, exactly, she thought about all this. It was...a lot to take in, to say the least.

Lil' Stevie flew up to her shoulder and chirped in her ear.

"This is new," she observed. "And what are you doing there?"

Lil' Stevie chirped again.

"You can't have any more bread—you'll explode, and that'll be very messy."

Another chirp, and then he settled down on her shoulder like he intended to stay there. Teana sighed at him, before taking in her surroundings properly. The crisp air blowing down from the mountains smelled like rain, the sky was bright and clear, and every so often a scent from town would make its way over—cinnamon, she thought. Really the only hint of fall at the moment—the trees were still a bright green and the air was still warm. Indian summer, maybe.

"Now isn't that a beautiful sight!"

Teana turned to see Yami Skellington at the balcony on the highest level, next to the observatory turret.

"They are more impressive up close," she called up. "Or were you talking about something else?"

Yami tipped his head. "I think maybe we're having two different conversations."

"Maybe if we weren't having them thirty or so feet apart."

"Easily solved," Yami said, snapping his fingers—

And then vaulting the balcony railing.

Teana's heart studdered in the brief moments between him doing that and morphing into a bird, swooping down, and lighting on the lawn as a human.

"Ta-da," he announced, arms spread and pleased with himself.

She had a moment of indecision, where she didn't want to knock Lil' Stevie loose and her other hand had bread in it—transfer the bread to the other hand so she could whack him repeatedly on the chest.

"Don't do that to me!" she scolded. "Normal people don't jump off of balcony railings!"

"I had thought we established I didn't qualify as normal," Yami said, sounding amused.

"That's no excuse—what if some kid saw you do that and tried it?"

"I should hope his parents would stop him. Are you okay?"

"Do I sound okay? I want my morning jolt from coffee, not you."

"How depressing," he noised, before noting Lil' Stevie. "You have bird on you."

"Yes, I noticed—we were working on breakfast," she said, indicating the bread. Lil' Stevie chirped to punctuate the statement. "Although I'm wondering how he got here."

"I told you I'd go fetch him—he was sitting on your old sill waiting for you."

"I told you the next tenant wouldn't feed you," she said to Lil' Stevie. Lil' Stevie chirped at her and snuggled into her neck.

"I really don't think food had anything to do with it," Yami said, rocking back on his heels and smiling at the whole event. "I'll have you know he asked for you specifically. Donuts were an afterthought. Speaking of—breakfast? If we hurry it won't be cooked by Kineil or the boys."

"I'm all for any food they haven't cooked," Teana said, trying to shoo Lil' Stevie off her shoulder.

"Leave him," Yami said, waving her attempts off and escorting her back to the kitchen. "I don't think a little bird is going to be a big deal."

Not when the owner of the house turned into a big bird on a regular basis. "I'd like to get it out in the open right now," she said, jabbing Yami in the ribs with a finger. "You are never allowed to perch on my shoulder."

"But I was looking forward to that," Yami mock-protested, holding the door open for her.

"I mean it—no perching."

All right—I suppose if you insist. You have to leave the spot open for Lil' Stevie, after all."

"Yes, it's a reserved seat."

Lil' Stevie chirped happily, and Teana smiled at him.

So far, not a bad way to spend a morning.

Although she doubted that would continue to be her sentiment when Yami's gaggle of friends woke up.