The Magicians' Realm Chapter 27: Offices and Chess Moves, a yu-gi-oh fanfic

Chapter 27, everybody! In which my old marketing teacher's office makes a cameo….My first college thought it was a good idea to squish two grown men, two desks, and two filing cabinets into a room more appropriately sized for cleaning supplies, and the oddness of that stuck with me. :|

Angiembabe, thanks for the review! Good news—he does in this chapter. :) That—is actually pretty close (and one of the reasons Kaiba goes the dragon route, in my headcanon). She doesn't come with him to visit, though, because of dragonlets and an overwhelming desire to let them practice pouncing skills on Yami. ;) It was….And good question—it seems spiky-haired Magicians are destined to get into trouble….

Fromtheashtrees, thanks for the review! Pity….And yes! You'll get some insight in this chapter. :) Yes…they were hiding. Yeah, Mom might find them more of a nuisance because one bit her in the leg once while she was sleeping—she didn't even get spider-powers, either….That depends upon whose safety we're talking about—when the airlines send us to five different airports and force us to spend a day travelling on what was supposed to be a two-hour flight (cue Gilligan's Island theme)….Mom actually swore she'd never fly again because of that. :\ Awesome that you got to go to Hawaii—and pity that you didn't get any sleep on the trip (you'd have been in the air longer than I was, come to think of it). Oh, I'll find something eventually….Perhaps you ought to invest in an artificial tree with built-in lights and bulbs….

References:

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

They were getting into Ancient history now—pretty boring, as far as Yami was concerned. Their advanced technology was nice, yes, but their lack of morals wasn't—and besides, most of what they made in their latter years was destroyed during the Age of Chaos, so most of what the tour was covering was speculation at best.

Yami spotted a side hall and took it, ducking away from the group. Once away, he suppressed the urge to shudder. Some of those stories from the Age of Magicians about evil sorcerers had been pretty skin-crawling—or at least, they would have been if it was someone else narrating it. It was hard to get worked up about the jaundiced eye of a cannibal or a man trapped in a statue when it was discussed with the same enthusiasm one reserved for discussing mold.

Yami glanced around, trying to orient himself. Well, he was away from the public area; these looked like offices—page offices, if the décor and size was anything to go by. Most were just big enough for a small desk, chair, and one filing cabinet.

He checked one of the clocks on a desk; lunchtime—no wonder no one was around. He wouldn't want to eat lunch in this narrow, windowless place either. He continued along the hall, hoping to find an area he recognized soon—he couldn't shake the feeling that the walls were closing in on him.

"Say, pal, you don't look so good."

Yami nearly jumped out of his skin. He could have sworn he was the only one here—

But no; there was Administrator Carter sitting at one of the desks, watching him through his customary cigar smoke haze.

"What are you doing here?" Yami asked, before he could recover. Oop—not the best thing to say. "I mean, are you waiting for someone, or…."

"This is my office," Administrator Carter said, stubbing out his cigar in an ashtray.

"No offense, but I thought Administrator offices were a bit…bigger."

"They are—my old one echoed," Administrator Carter said, lighting a fresh cigar. "It was annoying, come to think of it." He shook the flame from his fingertips. "While we're on the subject—what are you doing here?"

"Ah," Yami noised. "I thought I'd visit Dad at work." That normally worked. "I think I got turned around, though—or at least, I thought I did—I thought these were page offices."

"They are."

Yami stared for a few moments, uncomprehending. "The echo was that bad?"

"And then you get Administrator Unger in there tapping his feet. He's lucky he's still living."

Yami raised an eyebrow, unsure how to respond to that.

Administrator Carter gestured, dismissing him. "Take the hall to the left and follow it until you reach a pair of oak doors—they should be open around this time. And if anyone asks, tell them I gave you bad directions."

Yami nodded, took a few steps, then stopped and looked back. "Um, why would they be bad directions?"

"Because that takes you to the Administrator Library," Administrator Carter said, not looking up from his papers.

"I'm going to see Dad, remember?"

"Right," Administrator Carter said, drawling the word. "And I'm your aunt Gertrude. Now get out of here—you bother me."

Yami did so, with no small amount of relief. There was something about Administrator Carter that wasn't like the other Administrators, and it bothered him. It made him unpredictable, and therefore made him dangerous. What kind of Administrator stayed in a page's office? He could have put a sound dampening spell on the room without much trouble.

He reached the fork, hesitated, then took the left, feeling that Administrator Carter was listening to his footsteps.

He wasn't about to walk into a trap, however—he'd find a different way out.

*\*/*

"I don't get it. I've reread this last chapter three times, and I still don't get it."

"I think it's something that comes from that generation," the dragon mused, still sunning. "It takes a certain mindset to understand it."

"Well then, wise guy, translate for me," Teana shot.

"She wanted to reinvent herself. She thought the only way she could do that was to kill her old life."

"And the people involved too? Wait," she noised, flipping through the book. "Did she kill them? I'm confused."

"I'm not sure—it's been a while since I read that book."

"Okay, here's the movie theater guy's scene…let's see…."

"Finally, I made it! Sorry I'm late, but—Teana?"

Teana looked up. "You," she noised, spotting the tall thin form of Yami Skellington. "I'm trying to avoid you. Go away."

Yami looked utterly confused. "Okay…but what are you doing here?"

"I've decided to replace you," the dragon declared, fanning his wings slightly. "I like her better—she's more intelligent and she knows when to shut up."

"You two know each other?" Teana asked, aghast.

"Regrettably."

"Why does everyone I know talk like they wish they didn't know me?" Yami asked.

"Well, me personally is because I've known generation after generation of spiny-haired nerd, and it's starting to wear thin on me."

"And yet here you are."

"I told you: you've been replaced."

Teana let loose a whistle, directing the attention back to her. "Excuse me," she said. "But I've just had my day off interrupted here—"

"You were off today?" Yami asked. "Why didn't you say so?"

"Stop interrupting. Now, explain: how do you two know each other?"

Silence.

"You can speak now," she informed Yami.

"Noo," the dragon moaned.

"We've encountered each other a couple of times," Yami explained. "He's gotten over his desire to eat me, I think."

"Stop thinking."

"Anyway…I think it's the hair."

"I think I need to stop having conversations with you," Teana observed.

"Good idea," the dragon counseled.

"But we get together on occasion and play chess," Yami continued. "Except today I got nailed by the Administrators and couldn't get away—Max helped though. I owe him one. Considering I threw him under the bus….But he got away shortly after, so no harm done, right?"

"Ignore him," the dragon ordered. "Maybe he'll go away."

"I've tried that," Teana told him. "It doesn't work."

True to form, Yami was already seated cross-legged in front of them, setting up a little traveling chess set. "So how has your day been so far?" Yami asked, looking to Teana.

"Quiet until you showed up."

"What about the snake?" the dragon asked.

"I'm trying to forget about that."

"A snake?" Yami asked, eyebrows askew.

"A big one."

"Good think Kaiba was here then," Yami said, gesturing to the dragon.

Teana looked at him, confused.

"Don't tell me you didn't formally introduce yourself," Yami said to the dragon, aghast. "I thought dragons put more stock in manners than that!"

"What did I tell you about thinking?" the dragon asked.

"I think formal introductions are in order," Yami declared, standing up and affecting an official stance.

"What are you doing?" Teana asked.

"I'm doing this all nice and proper-like—I'm told it's one of the Head Mage's jobs."

"The one time he does his job," Teana muttered.

"Brutus, I'd like to formally introduce you to Miss Teana Gardenier. Miss Teana, I'd like to present the Dragon Emperor Brutus Kaiba, one of the three Chaos Kings and one of the last Chaos Creatures still roaming the earth."

"I'd like to formally kill you," the dragon now identified as Brutus Kaiba declared.

"I'm sorry, but there's a form you have to sign for that."

Teana, meanwhile, was looking at Brutus Kaiba. "A Chaos Creature?" she asked. "From the Age of Chaos? From millennia ago?"

"Makes you want to treat me with more respect, doesn't it?" Brutus Kaiba asked primly.

"Not really. I thought Chaos Creatures were extinct."

"That's what you get for thinking."

"As it's explained to me, they're just rare," Yami said, sitting back down. "Or in hiding. He's always been purposefully vague on the matter."

"It's not any of your business," Brutus Kaiba snapped, resuming his sunning position.

"So what am I supposed to call you?" Teana asked. "Mr. High-and-hoity-toity?"

"Brutus is fine."

"What about me?" Yami asked.

"You had better refer to me by my full title, you spiky-haired yutz."

"I feel loved," Yami declared.

"You should," Teana said, flicking her book open with the intention of looking busy.

"You're reading Let's All Kill Constance?"

"Re-reading it."

"I don't suppose you got the ending."

"You read it?"

"Five times. I still don't get it."

"Welcome to the club," Brutus declared sagely.

And thus went Teana's day off—spending the rest of the day discussing the book with Yami and Brutus.

She had to admit, she thought as she went to bed that night, it wasn't a bad way to spend a day.

*/*\*

Administrator William Maxwell Carter waited until Yami Montgau's footstep faded.

"There, Yami—maybe that works off some of that debt I owe you," he muttered, standing up and walking into the nearest wall. His shadow travel spit him out in a downtown alley.

He lit a fresh cigar as he walked. Not that he thought that he'd ever work off his guilt—he wondered at Catholic reasoning there.

But, he reasoned, pausing to glance at a little cemetery, something was better than nothing.