Magic and Chains
By: GodOfTheWired

Author's Notes: Well here's chapter 2... you'll take note that I received five times the reviews for this in comparison to my other Yu-Gi-Oh fic and I mentioned the Dark Magician Girl in the summary of this one? *Sigh* Them's the breaks, I suppose...

Chapter 2: Exasperation! The Fickle Joy called Love

Aki sighed as she collapsed onto her bed. She was sick and tired of studying all day. She turned onto her back and stared up at the ceiling as her mind drifted back to the events that occurred one week ago.

'Exodia... how long has he been sealed in there? And why wouldn't the Dark Magician tell me what the council spoke about?'

Her eyes shifted over to the clock on the wall, showing it was 2:58 in the afternoon. From 2 til 5 was her 3 hour break period where she could relax from her studying and it was always at 3 o' clock sharp that her friend showed up to cheer her up. She sighed and rested for the remaining two minutes before the hurricane she called her friend arrived at the door to the sound of wings fluttering and fists banging on her door. Aki sat up and walked to the door, opening it slowly to find her good friend Injection Fairy Lily standing there with companion Yata Garasu, who was using his beak to clean his wings. Lily dropped her large needle to the ground, taking the poor sorcerer girl into a crushing hug.

"Oh Aki Aki Aki! How are things going? How's the Dark Magician today? The studying been to hard for you?"

"..Slow down on the questions, Lily.."

"Sorry but I'm just in a good mood!"

Lily turned and looked at her crow companion, who seemed bored standing behind her. Aki always thought the two of them made a bizarre duo, one being a girl with a needle and the other being a giant spirit of a crow.

"What's wrong Yati? You wanna go perch somewhere?"

~Yes.. and don't call me Yati. You know I hate that.~

"Okay Yati! You can go and wait in the tree while I talk with Aki.... hey!"

~Oh no.. here comes the rhymes...~

"I can't believe I managed to rhyme! With the way I do this it should be a crime... I did it again!"

~Ugh.. I'm going..~

The giant crow flapped its wings and flew off to the nearby tree, where it perched and waited looking as ominous as possible. Aki chuckled as Lily welcomed herself inside.

"So anything up? Trying to figure out how to talk to the Dark Magician?"

Aki blushed at her friend's knowledge of her admiration of the Dark Magician.. mostly from her reading Aki's diary.

"I.. I know how to speak to him.. I have more important things to think about anyways.."

At this, Lily poked her head out of Aki's small refrigerator with a look of surprise.

"Oh my god! You've gotten over the Dark Magician and like someone else?!"

"I have not!.. Ack I mean I don't like someone else.. erk..."

Lily came walking back from the refrigerator with her arms full of different foods. She plopped herself down at the table and began snacking while motioning for Aki to continue.

"Well.. I met this guy.. and he just seems really lonely is all."

"Don't tell me you actually spoke with that Legendary Fisherman guy.. he just creeps me out to no end. 'The sea is a lonely place' is the worst pick up line I've ever heard."

"No not him. He's a nice guy though, you shouldn't be so mean to him Lily."

"When he stops talking about the ocean then maybe I'll listen. Besides he has that Aqua Spirit hanging all over him and he doesn't even know it. Anyways, go on. I want all the details."

"Well he's a nice guy.. he was the one that thought up the name Aki for me."

"Ah so that's who gave you that name. Well is this mystery man handsome?"

"I really don't know."

"You don't know? You've spoken with him and you haven't seen him?"

"Yeah.. it's hard to explain. I really can't talk about that."

"Alright alright.. just go on."

"Well.. he seems so nice and kind.. but he was.. uhh disliked by the other duel monsters. I don't know whether I can talk to him or not.."

"Well you know I go by a motto of "If it feels good, do it". So if you want to talk to this mystery guy, you should go ahead and do it. Besides maybe it'll get your mind off of only the Dark Magician for a minute."

Aki blushed as Lily finished the rest of the food hungrily. Now full and content, she spread her white wings and threw one of the red locks of her hair over her shoulder. She stretched her arms and legs before standing and walking to the door.

"Well I gotta go. I'll see you tomorrow, okay Aki?"

Lily stepped out the door, screaming out 'COME ON YATI! TIME TO GO!', leaving a confused Aki in her wake. The tired Dark Magician Girl walked to her bed to relax some more, before her door was suddenly thrown open. The Dark Magician stood in the doorway, a serious expression on his face as he regarded the girl heading to bed.

"Come.. it is time to train."

Aki frowned and looked at her clock.

"I still have an hour of break left though! I'm exhausted."

"We don't have time for this. If you didn't hang around with that Lily girl you wouldn't have this problem. She already completed all the training she needs. She's more powerful than I am actually. So you should get some rest instead of letting her disrupt your training."

"Oh come on, sir. Please, just an hour."

The Dark Magician stared the girl in the eyes and frowned. He always lost his attitude when he looked at those eyes. He sighed exasperatedly before losing his cold look.

"Very well. In actuality you are ahead of your studies, so you may take the remainder of today off. If you must lounge though, the least you could do is go grocery shopping since your friend Lily always cleans your refrigerator for you."

Aki's eyes lit up as she ran to her teacher and hugged him tightly.

"Thank you thank you! Thank you so much!"

Aki realized what she was doing and let go immediately, looking down at the floor as the Dark Magician stood a bit shocked. He looked down at the girl before him, who slowly raised her head, bringing her eyes to lock with his. They stood still for a moment and Aki could have sworn she had seen his head moving forward ever so slightly before they pulled away. Aki went to her door and slipped on her shoes.

"I.. I guess I'll go then. I'll be back in a little bit."

The Dark Magician seemed to fiddle with his coat for a moment before nodding.

"When you return I shall require your assistance with the house chores."

"Alright..."

~~~

Aki barely paid attention to what she was buying at the open market. Her mind was so busy in thought about the recent events that she didn't notice her walking to the port. She bought some fish that she knew the Dark Magician was favorable to and continued walking, not knowing that she was heading straight off the side of the port. She snapped out of her reverie when her foot didn't have land to connect with. She tried to regain her balance and get back onto the deck, but her attempts were in vain as she fell off the deck, headed face first for the sea below her. She stopped mid-fall and cracked her eyes open to see her savior. She sighed when she saw she was in the muscular arms of the Legendary Fisherman, who was smiling brightly at her from his killer whale escort.

"The sea is a dangerous mistress, lass. You should be more careful or it might take you for being more beautiful than it! Ha ha ha!"

"Umm.. thanks."

The Legendary Fisherman set her back onto dry land and handed her back her groceries. She took the groceries and began walking from the port slowly. The Fisherman gave pursuit on his Killer Whale, following as far as he could. He spoke finally when the two reached the end of the water.

"Something seems to be bothering you, young lass. You can always confide in the sea you know."

Aki thought for a moment. For being as young as he seemed, she knew the Fisherman was indeed an ancient creature. He had been around almost as long as her teacher. She turned around to face the Fisherman with a smile.

"Actually.. I was wondering if you knew anything about Exodia."

"Hmm.. do you hear that my friend? She wishes to know about Exodia!"

The Killer Whale seemed to thrash its head up and down as though nodding in understanding.

"Well there's not much to know.. it's said he thrashed the world of duel monsters because he was so powerful. That was why he was broken into five pieces, so that he wouldn't rampage. Of course, he only destroyed the land. A good thing he didn't touch the majestic ocean, or else I would have been forced to take him on! Ha ha ha!"

The sorceress frowned at this. Had Exodia truly been dangerous? Was he nothing more than a rampaging beast?

'He was so kind though..'

"Umm.. thanks."

Aki began walking away, back to her house. The Fisherman sat at the port and sighed... his pick up lines were getting him nowhere.

~~~

Author's Notes: Well that's it for this chapter. To Bunny: Sorry if I upset you. ^_^ Just that exams started for me so I've been a tad busy. I'll be writing quicker now that everything is moving smoothly.