The Magicians' Realm Chapter 7: Head Mage, a yu-gi-oh fanfic

Chapter 7, everybody! In which Yami makes an unintentionally inappropriate comment and the Administrators begin to be introduced—most of the Administrators act as foils to Yami and company here. On a side note, I really knew of a guy whose voice induced sleepiness—he was the preacher at my first college. :|

Angiembabe, thanks for the reviews and the follow! Welcome to the Magicians' Realm! :D To address your reviews…maybe. Hahah, yeah—his height will be explained later on, though. And now that you mention it, Kaiba doesn't exactly factor that hugely into most of my stories…I wonder why….I view Yami and Yugi as brothers too, but Yugi is his own person in this and will appear later on—Yuki…I sort of made him one day on a whim, but he tends to show up a bit….Well…I figure it's possible that someone who has purple eyes running in the family might have blue eyes (or maybe even red!) show up as a recessive trait….Don't worry, you're not the only one—it'll get easier later on; I sort of purposefully set out to make the timelines similar in these first few chapters. Yes…all will be revealed…eventually. We have conflict that needs building, after all. :) I would love to hear those theories…Yes, that's been fun to write—they'll be developing some more distinctness soon, though. :)

Fromtheashtrees, thanks for the review! Maybe….And not me—Kineil in this story is very much like Rae and Kelsey in other stories: based on me, but then sent off into the wilderness to develop their own personalities (you'll find Kineil to be about as caustic as Rae from The Frost King). To be honest, Kineil is based more off of my Mom than myself (but not entirely). And yes! :D Deltora Quest was a fave of mine as well—the local grocery store was selling books from that series, Chasing the Falconers and Guardians of Ga'Hoole (I guess because school was starting?), and I had to convince Dad to buy them. Said convincing became easier once I got him reading the Ga'Hoole series (I need to start him on one of the other ones once he finishes reading Patriots). Yes, I prefer consistent updates over larger sporadic updates as well. I recommend writing a page a day, personally—it helps to fill up some of that free time and enables you to update more as well! Two birds with one stone! :D Really? I wonder why….

References:

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

"You are a very good dancer."

Teana stifled a laugh. She was slow-dancing with Yami out on the dance floor, and she was doing most of the leading. "You could be more graceful if you tried."

Yami tilted his head, as though unsure as to whether she was jesting or not. "But that would require so much work," he said finally.

Teana let out a cough of laughter, quickly followed by a groan as his words reminded her of something.

"I need to go back to work," she said, pulling away.

He pulled her back. "Nonsense! What's a pretty girl like you doing having to work, anyway?"

"Does being pretty exempt me from having to work?"

"It sounded good."

"Unfortunately, it doesn't pay the bills." She tried pulling away again; he held on.

"Okay then, I'll cover your fee. How much does a dance cost?"

Behind them, Kineil—dancing with the Blue Jay—heard that passing comment and snorted with laughter.

"What is it?" the Blue Jay asked.

Kineil simply shook her head, hand covering her mouth to prevent further laughs from escaping.

"As tempting as that is, I do have to get back to work," Teana said, pulling away slightly. Yami was about to pull her back again, when a thin, sallow-faced man walked by, upper face covered by a simple mask.

"Say, pal, Sumbinix is looking for you," the man said to Yami, then continued on his way.

"Tell him I'm not here, Max," Yami called after him.

"Not so long as you call me Max," the man called back. "Besides, he's already seen you."

He pointed over to the stage, near where some soft-looking man was waving impatiently at Yami. Teana heard him curse under his breath.

"You have work to do, it seems," Teana opined.

"Can I play hooky?" Yami asked.

"No. Besides, those hors d' oeuvres aren't going to serve themselves."

And with that, she broke away from the dance and walked over to the buffet, quite pleased with how she was commanding Yami's attention.

Might as well enjoy it while I can, she thought.

*/*\*

"So what was Mr. Montgau talking about when he told Yami he was 'on in half an hour'?" Anzu asked.

"He's going to be demonstrating his magical ability for the Administrators shortly," Kels supplied.

"Once that happens, he won't be an apprentice magician anymore, and he'll teach me some magic," Yuki announced excitedly.

Anzu blinked. "He's that good and he's still an apprentice?"

"The Administrators always drag their feet," Jonouchi told her. "Yami's told us how his dad always bring home stories on how they finally decided on something they brought up six months ago."

"What a waste."

"Don't we know it," Honda said sagely.

The lights dimmed slightly. "Ah, speaking of," Bakura murmured. "Here's the Head Administrator now, Dr. Sumbinix."

Anzu turned to see a stout, soft, gray-haired man standing next to Mr. Montgau. He seemed amiable enough, but it seemed forced to Anzu. Compared to the Head Mage, he didn't seem nearly as deserving of respect.

But he was Head Administrator, and that was enough to garner respect, she supposed.

"Well I'm glad you all could make it," Dr. Sumbinix said in a soft voice that didn't project well. "Welcome to another Masquerade Ball. I hope you all have been enjoying yourselves."

"We had been," Kels muttered under her breath. "At least until you started talking."

Indeed, Dr. Sumbinix's voice had a very soporific effect. People were quiet, but not out of respect: they were dozing off as he spoke. Anzu tried to pay attention, but it was becoming more difficult to do the longer he went on.

"All right!" Mr. Montgau announced suddenly, clapping his hands together.

Everyone was suddenly alert again. Anzu realized that Dr. Sumbinix had stopped talking, and now Mr. Montgau was. Within a few words, it was obvious who the better showman was.

"It is my distinct pleasure to introduce you all to tonight's entertainment," Mr. Montgau said. "Demonstrating his magical talents for the Administration, ladies and gentlemen! My son, Yami!"

Mr. Montgau gestured over with such a flourish—Anzu could tell he was proud of his son.

Everyone turned to look, and applauded when they saw Yami bowing up on stage. He oozed confidence. He vibrated with excitement.

And Anzu felt deep in her heart that he would—as the colloquial term went—blow their socks off.

*\*/*

Yami watched Teana flounce away, completely entranced.

"Not bad," Maxwell opined, behind him.

"Not bad at all," Bakura chimed in, leaning over to watch her go. "Hungry, though," he added, when she picked up a tray.

"That's her job," Yami explained. "Not everyone has skeletons digging for gold for them twenty-four-seven."

"Pity," Maxwell said. Yami glared back at him. "Sumbinix still wants you, by the way."

Yami crossed the ballroom, grumbling the whole way. He literally had better things to do.

"It's about time," Sumbinix said tetchily. "What took you?"

"It's a holiday," Yami said, remaining calm. "I'm focused on leisure."

"Enough. Come along," Sumbinix groused, leading the way up to the stage. Yami followed, detesting the coming aggravation.

As soon as Sumbinix started talking, Yami's attention started drifting. He was fairly certain that Sumbinix was talking about him, making several expansive gestures to keep the audience's attention.

Unbeknownst to the Head Administrator, Yami's neck was sore from the tension required to keep him from shaking his head. He could have groaned at all the attention. Yes, he understood the importance of the pomp and ceremony, but he wished that it wasn't so long—he wanted to get back to his friends, and back to that girl, who was some kind of wonderful—

His head jerked suddenly—he had caught a flash of pale blue, and traced it to the girl he had asked to the Ball, Teana. She was running for the entrance, the only one not facing the stage….

He was glad for the mask—it would hide his fallen face.