The Magicians' Realm Chapter 88: Aggravations at Home, a yu-gi-oh fanfic

Chapter 88, everybody! Love the double-eights. :D In which the elder Yami falls to pieces….And can certainly get his body into some funny shapes.

Movies this week are The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers—we tried to have a marathon of all three yesterday but couldn't squeeze in Return of the King. Dad was confused as to why it took three movies to throw a ring away, Mom was confused as to why everyone was so hopped up about said ring, so I said that the ring's return policy had fallen through and that everything was a epic road trip slash major tax evasion, and that the ringwraiths were actually IRS agents after Frodo for failing to pay the estate tax on Bag's End. I actually think we enjoyed the movies more that way….Oh yes: Gollum is the end result of dorm-bound college students trying to earn degrees (I swear there were people in my first college who acted like that), and Mordor is industrial New Jersey.

Angiembabe, thanks for the review! Yes, strange….Not for long, no. Well, let's be honest, running is the natural response to someone dead being up and moving about. And then continuing to run when the ambulatory dead person is running after them. "Hey fellas! Wait for me!" And then the realization that Skellington's stride is much longer than theirs….

FluffyIdiotIsI, thanks for the reviews! Glad you're still laughing! :D Wow, you're very good…I don't suppose you know the winning lotto numbers too, do you? Yes, serious scary part? Quick follow up with the thing you're terrified of taking a comedic tumble (I blame reading Janet Evanovich currently). Yes…and then randomly stealing one of the other Administrators' offices. "What are you doing here, this is my office!" Cue Animaniacs spiel that ends with the Administrator leaving very confused. Yes….Well here it is, hope it continues to please! :D

References:

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

Teana spent her morning walking Delvaire in search of a florist's shop, and arrived back at the house just in time for Yami to come swooping up.

"Ugh, I wish those people would retire," Yami said, shifting back into human form and stumbling up to her, having not slowed down at all as he came in. "Or that I could fire them. Max is frustrated with you, by the way."

"How so?" she asked.

"Nothing much, just something about making me work again. We should talk about that."

"And how does you working affect him? Does that mean he has to work?"

"Sort of. And I kind of worked out of his office this morning."

"So you have Max-germs all over you," Kineil said, walking by with the mail.

"Maybe. Thank you for that thought, Kineil."

"No problem. This is for you."

"This looks suspiciously like a bill," Yami said, accepting the envelope she handed him.

"That's why it's for you. Ta."

They watched as Kineil went back into the house before Yami spoke again.

"So, shall we head off to the good doctor's?" he asked, tucking the envelope into his suit.

"That wasn't Ghastly's bill, was it?" Teana asked.

"It could be the house bill."

"Could be?"

"Well…maybe."

"Maybe. Because you took great pride in telling me how Hephaestus and Vulcan made the place self-sufficient."

"You're not allowed to look at this bill, by the way."

Kineil came back out, waving another envelope.

"This one's for you," she said, slapping it against Teana. "It's from Idgy, and is probably an invitation to something like lunch or brunch or something."

"And how would you know?" Teana asked. "Hold it up to the light?"

"Please, that's for amateurs—I use steam."

Teana stared at Yami as Kineil went back to the house.

"She watches White Christmas every year," Yami said, shrugging before offering an arm. "Ready to go?"

Teana similarly shrugged, resigning herself as she laced her arm through his and followed him down the hill.

*/*\*

Yami Skellington was beginning to feel that he was probably going to have to go to the next county to lay low for the rest of the day.

The plan of hiding out at his old house, despite the old painful memories, was doomed to failure apparently for a number of reasons. Firstly was the fact that the generator had somehow failed, and all he knew how to check for was to see if there was gas in it—there wasn't. Anything else as far as figuring it out was in Hephaestus and Vulcan's territory, and they weren't available at the moment.

So he was very distracted as he went back up the steps, trying to figure out why there was no power in addition to figuring out how to undo his spell on his house—

And then opening the door and being startled by someone who looked very much like Hephaestus—and startling him besides, if the scream had been anything to go by.

Not that Yami had really noticed, considering he had tumbled down the steps to land in an unceremonious heap at the bottom—no more muscles and sinew meant that he could get his body into stranger shapes than he had before.

And then he heard the door slamming and his not-so-great-at-the-moment nephew yelling "I GOT HIM!"

Not quite.

It took a moment to untangle himself from himself and his cape, but he was quickly running for the cellar door and—

Slamming right into it—the door was rusted shut. Great. Okay. Don't panic. There was the entrance to the limestone warrens, but he didn't want to run the risk of running into someone down there—those were probably still in use, and he needed escape routes that weren't so narrow. Think. Rust—probably wouldn't hold up to a continued assault.

Except from the sounds of it, his nephew and his friend were barricading the door on this side as well. Great. Now might be a good time for panicking—or using the warrens. Ugh, if only he had gotten more juice flowing before coming here—he didn't have nearly enough of his magic back to undo his old spell. But he would have thought that no one would dare come to his house! The fact that it was still standing had been testament enough to that!

Okay, think—he was still enough of a Magician that he could force an override on his spell, however temporarily. It'd be a drain on his current magical reserves, but it could work. So. How to do it, was the question.

Look around—find an answer in a ceremonial sword sitting on a shelf in a case—muted apology to his great-uncle Angus before breaking the case on the floor and snatching the sword up.

It took a lot of concentration and force to do it, but the old sword turned black—not quite Maxwell's shadow-sword, but close enough that it could cut through anything. Now here was hoping they just had a stick holding the door shut.

Stab the sword through the gap, where he saw no shadow—

Screams told him that they had vacated the premises rapidly, which was good, because it meant he could slice down without a problem. It was also bad, considering that once again, people would be attracted to this spot.

It would also promise to be embarrassing, since he felt several ribs come loose from their moorings and clatter against his hip bones, and lost the tension in his free hand besides.

"Oi vey," he muttered under his breath, setting the sword aside and gathering up his scattered self one-handed. Okay, so Helen was right, relatives were annoying. And that one might have been one of hers, so it was nice to be able to throw it back at her.

Except he now only had one useful hand full of ribs and a door to still get out of.

Yami was muttering obscenities under his breath as he shoved up against the door, again and again until the rust gave way and the bricks fell off and he was able to get out.

Fortunately, when he stuck his head out, it was to find that there was no miniature Yamis or semi-Hephaestuses running around, so he was able to get out into his yard with relative ease and pull himself back together. So there was that.

There was also the fact that people would be coming here within short order.

Hence why he was now currently sitting on a branch in a tree in town, wearing his feathers and a disgruntled expression.

"Coo," a mourning dove said, landing next to him.

"Terribly sorry, but I've had a very trying day," Yami said. "I finally get out of what amounts to a prison, find my home is not how I left it, and now I can't get a moment's peace. Is it too much to ask that this go off without a hitch?"

The mourning dove bobbed its head at him for a few moments before edging away on the branch.

"And now I've aggravated the local avians—sorry."

"You need what the humans call 'professional help,'" the mourning dove informed him, flying off.

"That I do," Yami agreed, sighing before hopping to another branch with the intention of finding more cover. It wouldn't have been a problem if hagsfiends were still around—there should have been a casting of them on the younger Yami's roof, at least, attracted by the scent of his magic. The fact that he hadn't seen a single one….

Hold it.

There! Flying overhead and scanning the streets like it was looking for someone—a hagsfiend!

Yami breathed a sigh of relief and lofted into the air after it.

Finally, someone who would be speaking sense!