📜🎩 T H E ☆ M A G I C I A N - Act 60 (Including Pics!)

Content possibilities for the whole story: original content, w/w(?) or overall queerness, fluff, angst, hurt & comfort, asexuality/demisexuality, cryptid (?) pregnancy, nb(?)preg, sexual & kink awakening, stuffing, nausea, gender ambiguity, toxic relationships, partially male-presenting pregnancy, birth, transphobia (mention), dysphoria, depression & suicidal thoughts, parental conflicts, cnc-like intercourse, use of alcohol and other drugs, demons, religions & mythology (diverse), cursing, profanity, belly focus & sounds

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Part III: 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 |
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T H E  ☆  M A G I C I A N

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Act 60

Mary

She felt as if somebody had thrown her into ice-cold water, only to be held over the surface with an invisible hand clenching Mary’s throat.

“What?” was all Mary could get herself to answer.

If it were a different situation, Mary would’ve appreciated Lynette holding her hand, but now she barely noticed it.

“It was… it was bad. A man, high on power and blood alcohol level, who couldn’t cope with me not wanting him. You know it’s not unusual for some guys to get all nasty over rejections, but he… he was different. I could see it in his eyes. There was no empathy, only sadism. He started to tell me, in detail and without any spark of fear or shame, what he would do to me. He was ready to destroy me… or worse.

I knew that yelling wouldn’t have helped, because of his status. People were afraid of him. And he knew it, too. I was scared for my life, Mary. But, suddenly and out of nowhere, Mel was there. I knew he was in Venice, for the same show I was, but I hadn't seen him there until then. He distracted the guy and outright charmed him. I was able to get away, and when our paths crossed again right on the next day, the guy even apologized, and it sounded genuine. Shit, to this day I have no idea what Mel did with him, but he didn’t only protect me from the damage the guy could’ve done, but also from the crippling fear of running into him again.”

Mary stared at her, completely perplexed. She had a hard time comprehending all of the information. For one, she felt absolutely awful for what happened to Lynette. She knew that bad stuff could happen to some women in that regard, but she had never met, or at least talked with, an affected person, and thankfully, nothing of this sort had ever happened to her, either. Secondly, it was hard not to be proud of the role of her darling magician in this story. There also was Lynette’s, again very sudden, openness that overwhelmed Mary a little. But most importantly with all of this was the context of what had been happening earlier. 

The realization hit Mary like a brick. Right in the stomach, where it stayed.

“Melodie protected me,” she whispered in shock.

“That’s what I assume, yes,” Lynette agreed. 

Her voice catapulted Mary back to the moment. Only now did she realize that the tall man that had accompanied them the whole time was gone, and that Lynette was holding both of Mary’s hands in a comforting manner. The look in Lynette's eyes was unsure and guilty, as if she didn’t know whether it had been a good idea to share this background with Mary or not.

“I… I had no idea. I didn’t even know that man; I didn’t even talk with him.”

“It doesn’t have to be the same situation as it was with me, hon,” Lynette tried to soothe her. “It could’ve been something else. Though knowing Mel, I think it had to be something severe, when he sent you my way like that.”

“Thank… thank you for telling me.” Mary tried to comfort Lynette in return, attempting to take away her guilt, “It must’ve been hard, and I appreciate it. But I have to go now.”

With that, Mary detached her hands from Lynette’s. 

“No, wait—”

In an instant, Mary gathered her dress up and slipped out of her shoes, then ran back to the hall.

She had no idea if Lynette followed her, nor did she care. She didn’t even know if she could remotely grasp the whole situation, but there was one notion that crystallized from her thoughts: What if it wasn’t Mary who had been in danger, but Mel? She didn’t know the weird man, nor did he seem particularly interested in Mary. So maybe he was dangerous for another reason?

Or maybe she was overthinking things. Maybe it was just an unpleasant business contact of Mel’s, and she wanted to have a private moment with him. 

But if it wasn’t… if there was just a small chance that Mel was in danger, Mary wanted to be on her side and do whatever she could. She might not be strong, but she had proven to herself she could have good ideas sometimes and would find ways. She wouldn’t let anyone hurt Melodie.

Mary didn’t care about the stunned looks thrown at her when she clattered into the hall again; instead, she ran straight towards the bathrooms, where the huge guy stood by another familiar person: Melodie’s manager, Bente Morris.

“Stop it already and don’t make a fuzz, Tomas. I told you I’ve been watching, and they’ve never left the bathroom, nor did anyone else enter. They obviously need private time,” Mary overheard Morris scolding the boulder, who didn’t seem pleased with her words in the slightest.

When Mary approached, they looked up. Morris' face wasn’t pleased at all upon seeing her, and Tomas, who probably already sensed what Mary was about to do, tried to grab her. He wasn’t quick enough. Mary evaded his hand with surprising ease, ducked under it, and rushed into the men’s bathroom without another thought.

There, it took her a moment to let the reality of what she saw sink in: it was empty.

“Don’t just stand there, fetch her!” She heard Morris whisper-yell at the guy. It sounded so far away, almost like from another time, dulled by the enigma she witnessed.

The bathroom wasn’t big. It featured only one room, with three urinals and three stalls that stood open and were clearly empty. There was one sink, one mirror, one small window, and that’s it. 

She felt the guy’s hand gently grabbing her arm, but his movement froze when he came to the same realization. 

“Didn’t she say that she watched it the whole time…?” Mary asked, close to tears because of raw confusion and growing worry.

Tomas grunted in agreement, clearly perplexed himself.

The door behind them slammed another time, and when Mary turned around, Morris was standing inside the frame. The look on her face was… strange. She looked angry at first, then confused, then angry again. But in between the confusion and the anger there was another expression, one that came and went so quickly that Mary hadn’t had time to notice it properly. Had it been… fear?

“Out. Now!” She commanded both of them with the harsh tone of a completely annoyed kindergartner, which made Mary follow while she tried to make sense of it all. Morris must’ve made a mistake. They had to leave somehow. There was a window, yes, but it was way too small to allow an adult body to move through. Maybe Mel might’ve been able to do it somehow, even though it was highly unlikely, but the guy she had been with, despite being small in height, had been rather chunky.

“Godverdomme, kut, making a scene like that, just the perfect fodder for the media. I swear, this is what happens when I let that dumb kid have dumb friends,” she cursed, more to herself than to anyone else, while dragging Mary outside the room. 

“Don’t act like Mel belongs to you,” Mary’s mouth said before her brain even formed the thought. She wasn’t even surprised about her intuitive actions anymore. She was on the edge; her body was ready to fight everything and anyone right now.

Both the big guy and the manager looked at her in surprise—though while there was a slight grin hidden in Tomas’ mouth corners, Morris’ astonishment came from a more negative place.

“Watch your mouth, girl. You know nothing. You can consider yourself lucky to even talk to my client, let alone be close to them.”

Them?

“Now stay put, stay silent, and let the grown-ups do the job,” Morris added in an urging whispering tone.

Mary wasn’t having any of that.

“Where’s Melodie?” Mary asked a little louder than she usually would have, to force Morris further into a hot seat.

It worked. The anger in her eyes flared up, but she knew full well that she wasn’t able to silence Mary without making an even bigger scene, which she seemed to fear so much. Instead, she was forced to talk to Mary under her conditions: Civilized.

“I’ve seen them leaving earlier,” Morris answered, keeping her voice and demeanor calm with apparent great endeavor. 

“I’ve heard you saying that you watched the door the whole time.”

“I lied. Tomas is worrying way too much, I wanted to calm him down.”

Mary heard Tomas grunting again. It was obvious that he didn’t like that.

“Who is he?” Mary asked.

“Mel’s bodyguard,” Morris answered, confirming Mary’s suspicion with that.

“Why would you lie to Mel’s own bodyguard?”

Morris moaned. “Can you stop questioning me already? I have better things to do. It’s something between Tomas and me.”

“I will when you tell me where Mel is.”

“Went for a stroll.”

“I don’t believe you,” Mary said, and she was surprised about the tone of her own voice. It sounded sharp and threatening; she had never heard herself talking like that.

“You better do. I know Mel better than anyone here,” Morris answered. It also sounded urgent, but not like a lie this time. And she had in fact called Mel ‘them’, which Mary had never heard anyone use for Mel in person before, and which—at least from what Mary had read about the topic—seemed to fit Mel’s personality well.

Before Mary could answer, another hand laid on her shoulder. People seemed to be very eager to touch her today.

When she turned around, she saw Lynette.

“Let me get her out of your hair,” she said with a beautiful, charming smile to Morris, “I’ll make sure she gets home.”

“Finally, a normal human being, godverdomme,” Morris moaned, and without any more polite words towards Lynette or even one last look at either of them, she turned around, grabbed the bodyguard by the trunk of an arm, and walked away while exchanging some silent words with him.

“I’ve got a message from Mel,” Lynette whispered so that only Mary could hear her, while guiding her to the entrance, to indicate that Mary should let Morris go.

Mary was overrun by many questions, but she decided to ask the simplest one: “How?”

“I called him.”

Oh. Right. Mel did have a phone, after all.

“Ah … okay, and… and is everything okay?” Mary asked anxiously.

Lynette didn’t answer immediately. Then, she said: “I’m not sure. He sounded strange. I should bring you to the cabstand and pay for a ride home.”

“No!” Mary exclaimed, “I won’t leave—”

“It’s okay. He’s waiting at the hotel for you, he said.”

“But- I… How—” Mary started, perplexed. Her hotel wasn’t around the corner. If Mel went right after going to the bathroom, she probably wouldn’t have arrived yet?

“He’s a magician,” Lynette simply stated, but by the look on her face, and as a magician herself, she seemed a little puzzled, too. “That’s not important right now. Just believe me.”

“I… I warn you. If it turns out that you lied to get me away—”

They stopped at a taxi waiting for new guests at the sidewalk, and Lynette turned Mary towards her so that they faced each other. “I understood how much he means to you, and couldn’t avoid noticing how much you mean to him. I wouldn’t lie to you in that regard.”

“Okay then, come with me, and—”

Lynette shook her head. “Of course I wanted to. He specifically said that nobody but you should go.”

Mary lapsed into silence. It really sounded strange, to say the least.

“Don’t worry your pretty little head,” the beautiful, tall woman said, making Mary blush involuntarily. “Maybe this whole event was too much for his introverted heart, and he just wanted to spend some quality time with you alone.” Then, while she opened the door for Mary, she added with a wink: “Or maybe he planned to do more than that. Get that dress off of you, doing a bit more magic with his fingers and his mouth—”

“Lynette!” Mary exclaimed abashed, her face now almost smoldering, even though she knew Lynette was just trying to calm her down.

The woman laughed. “You’re way too innocent. Maybe that’s what he always wanted,” she commented thoughtfully and with barely noticeable sadness, but quickly brushed it off. “Anyway, get home already. And don’t forget those, Cinderella.” With that, she gave Mary the shoes she had left behind. 

Where had she taken those from? Did she hold them the whole time? Those magicians and their habit of pulling stuff out of thin air.

“Thank you,” Mary said while taking the sparkling slippers.

Then Lynette leaned over her, accidentally brushing Mary with her chest and making her face go even redder, while giving something to the driver.

“Take her anywhere she wants to. You can keep the change,” she purred with the charm of somebody who was used to earning money with her looks and body, “And stay until she enters wherever she needs to go. Ok?”

“Yes, Ma’am,” the driver answered gleefully, happy about his obviously gracious payment.

Then Lynette withdrew and stood up again, holding the door in her hand. 

“Bye, girl,” was all she said, then she closed the car door.

“So, where are we going?” the driver asked, not giving Mary a chance to cope.

“Eh - the, eh—the Mandarin Oriental, I don’t know the exact—” she answered, while nervously letting down the window to say goodbye to Lynette, too.

“Of course I know that place. I’ll bring you there as quickly as possible.”

“Please wait a moment,” Mary begged him, then leaned towards the now open window. “Lynette!”

The woman turned around again.

“I just… I just wanted to say thank you. I… I think that this all has been tough for you, too, and I’m sorry.”

For a moment, the professional mask fell off the entertainer’s face and showed a genuine smile instead.

Flustered, Mary continued: “I… I just want you to know that if you ever want somebody to listen, I’m here, okay…? It might not be much, but…”

“Thanks, but no thanks. You’re cute though. Just take good care of Mel for me, okay, Mary?” acknowledging Mary’s name for the first time and showing that despite her indifference, she had been paying attention.

Mary nodded. “I will. With everything I have.”

Lynette gave her one last smile, then turned around and vanished back inside the brightly lit, glistening building, where feelings and weaknesses suddenly felt unwelcome.

▶️ NEXT CHAPTER

Hey guys, Rose here! Thanks for reading this chapter! I thought it might be a nice idea to involve some personal thoughs again now and then. Despite her being ambigous, I really like writinge Lynette. And I like having all sorts of characters collide with Mary's soft soul, with her staying just as she is and not letting herself being shamed into acting differently, and them seeing that being soft and kind is okay, too. And of course I liked writing Tomas cameo here. Some of you might remember him... he's my oldest OC (and also exists in Sapph's universe with Ravis), I have him since... phew, maybe 20 years? That's crazy. He does have some background with Mel, and I can't wait to tell you about it one day.

If you enjoy my stories, could you do me a favor and leave a comment? Any comment will do, even just an emoji or a "This made me happy!" or even just a "I read this". One of the reasons I stopped sharing was that I felt like nobody even read my story, so every sign that people actually read it means a lot to me! I know people liked the chapter posts, but that also could be because of Sapph's pictures.

Currently I'm also trying to figure out if it's really only, like, 3 people reading this story - if that's true, I don't want to clutter this Patreon, and maybe start to make my own Patreon, or make a subscribtion thingy on Deviantart. Sharing whenever you have read it would help me to decide what's best!

Hope you have a great day!

Rose