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It wasn't often that Lyney took risks. Usually, he was careful. But here he was, in the Opera Epiclese dressing room, ten minutes before a show, taking a serious risk.
He dug a knife into the flesh of his arm, splitting open the skin and spilling crimson blood onto the towel he'd laid out beforehand.
Could he have waited until after the show? Of course not! Lyney needed it now. He needed the rush. He craved the pain.
"Lyney?" an assistant called from outside. "We start in a few minutes!"
Right, Lyney was supposed to be right behind the curtain with his sister.
"Coming! Just— just give me a minute."
Lyney tossed the blade back into his bag, then pressed the towel tight to his arm. If he put enough pressure on it, the wounds would close in time.
Right?
After a few minutes, Lyney removed the towel. He should have waited a while longer… The cuts were shallow, anyway; they'd close on their own. Right now, he had no time to wait.
Lyney wiped the last drops of blood from his skin before he tossed the towel away. Crimson continued to ooze from the wounds, but Lyney pulled his white sleeve on, anyway.
He grabbed his hat, left the dressing room, and headed towards the stage. He smiled at the assistants like nothing was wrong, like he hadn't just cut himself just before his big magic show. The tickets had all sold out, and even the Iudex himself was going to be there.
The steady, stinging pain in his forearm kept him grounded, kept him distracted from… From…
What had he even cut himself for? Just to see if he could handle performing like this?
Maybe Lynette was right. He needed to talk to Father about this, maybe see a doctor for his horrible addiction.
"Lynette!" he greeted his twin sister, giving her that bright, fake smile.
She huffed. "Took you long enough. What were you doing back there?"
Lyney shrugged. "Just had some trouble with the costume, that's all." He took his place beside her, and reached for her hand.
Once he found her hand, she squeezed it. "You could've asked for help."
"Nah. I got it." Lyney released her hand and reached for his hat, adjusting it so it sat just right atop his head.
"One minute!" a staff member called. "Ready?"
Lyney gave a thumbs-up with his injured arm. They didn't notice anything off in his movement, after all, not everyone could be as perceptive as Lyney.
The white fabric of his sleeve moved with him, falling dangerously close to the bleeding wounds underneath. Lyney almost pulled it away, but stopped himself. Lynette would get suspicious, and it would do no good, anyway. The fabric was thick enough that a tiny drop of blood wouldn't soak through, anyway.
The lights dimmed.
"Ready?" Lynette asked.
Lyney nodded. "Ready."
When the curtains were drawn back, Great Magician Lyney stepped forward, a smile plastered on his face. He scanned the audience, noticing the Iudex in his usual seat in the front row. Beside the Iudex sat Freminet. clutching Pers tight in his hands. Freminet waved at his siblings.
Lyney and Lynette waved back.
The magician twins did their usual routine; Lyney introduced himself and his sister, they removed their Visions and had an assistant take them off stage, then began to perform.
While Lynette stepped off stage to prepare their big trick, Lyney started with a few small ones.
He turned cards into confetti, made doves appear from thin air, and even made Rosseland appear from his hat with a flick of the wrist.
His left sleeve touched his arm. It stuck to his skin, and Lyney had to shake his arm just a bit to loosen it. He glanced down. A tiny red dot had soaked through the fabric, right on the embroidery.
Oh, Chiori was going to kill him.
No, no, it was just a bit; he could bleach it, and it would go back to normal. He had removed several blood stains from clothing before. This was nothing new. He didn't know how well this fabric would hold up to bleach, but, really, he had no choice.
Lynette returned to the stage with a heavy crate in her arms, which she placed in the center of the stage. The crate was wooden, standing at just knee height.
"Now, this looks just like an ordinary crate, doesn't it?" Lyney asked the crowd, who murmured and nodded in agreement. "But, once I tap it, you'll see…"
Lyney knelt, and tapped the top of the box with the very tip of his finger. Lynette nudged a button on the back with the toe of her boot, a movement subtle enough that no one in the audience would see.
The box opened. Lyney and Lynette jumped back as the box fell apart, and an even larger, mechanical box assembled itself from within. Freminet's handiwork. Lyney shot a wink at the boy, who looked absolutely delighted that his contraption had worked this well.
Once the box was fully assembled, it stood tall, with enough space inside to fit a person.
"Tada!" Lyney gestured at the box. His arm stuck to the sleeve again, and he shook it off. It would all be fine, he told himself; he just had to get through the next forty minutes, then he could properly bandage everything up. Though his sleeve did feel a bit heavier…
The audience clapped and cheered, and Lyney allowed them a moment to do so before he continued.
He opened the box, revealing the inside to the audience. A few decorations hung from the ceiling, but the rest of the box was empty.
"With this box, I am going to make my sister disappear!"
He held the door open, and Lynette stepped inside. She remained still for a moment, allowing the audience to see her. Lynette gave her brother a thumbs-up, and he closed the door.
Slam!
He pulled the latch closed, making sure it was firmly locked. "Now, I've locked my dear sister inside the box." Lyney stepped back, widely gesturing with his injured arm. It twinged painfully, and the sleeve stuck to his skin again. He didn't shake it off.
Did I rip one of them open?
No time to ponder such questions. The cuts were shallow, they wouldn't bleed enough to soak through the fabric.
"Lynette, can you get out?"
From inside the box, Lynette jiggled the handle. It did not budge. She banged on the sides, shaking the box a bit.
"As you can see, she can't get out!" Lyney giggled. "This box is quite sturdy, so there's no way she's going to break out." He stepped in front of the box. "Surely it's impossible for her to disappear, right?"
While Lyney was speaking, Lynette was already gone. She'd disappeared through the bottom of the box, and was currently making her way through the tunnels beneath the stage.
Lyney laughed. "But nothing's impossible when you're a magician! The only limit… is your own imagination." Lyney raised his right hand and snapped his fingers.
The snap! echoed through the auditorium. Lyney stepped away from the box.
"Now, if my magic has worked right, Lynette has disappeared." He reached for the latch, unlocked the box, and swung the door open.
The box was empty. Lynette was nowhere to be seen.
The audience gasped and applauded. The applause wasn't quite as loud as before, when the box had first assembled itself, but the audience seemed captive enough. The people in the front row were staring, waiting for his next move.
"Of course, my magic shows aren't nearly as fun without her," Lyney sighed wistfully. "But, I can easily make her reappear!" With his right arm, Lyney gestured to the doors at the back, where the audience had first entered. Right on cue, they swung open, revealing Lynette on the other side.
She walked down the aisle, ponytail swinging slightly as she returned to the stage.
Lyney tried to keep focus, but it was so hard, with his arm stinging from the cuts, and his sleeve sticking to them. Lyney had definitely ripped one of them open. What a distraction.
He needed to focus, he had a small opportunity for a break in a few minutes, he could assess the damage then. Not now.
Lynette stepped onto the stage, and returned to her brother's side.
"Tada!" Lyney gestured to her with his left arm.
Instead of applause, the audience gasped in horror, and Lyney could not stop his smile from fading. It was bad, wasn't it?
"Brother?" Lynette asked, just as horrified as the audience. "What happened?"
Lyney finally looked down at his arm. Honestly, he couldn't say what he was expecting to see.
Fresh blood had completely soaked through fabric, staining it a bright shade of crimson. It had even begun to soak his cuff, staining that red, too.
Oh, Father was going to kill him. There was no way he could hide this from her, this would be in the newspaper by the next morning.
Forget the show, Lyney thought. It's already ruined.
Lyney dashed for the doors on the side of the stage, disappearing backstage. He darted past the staff and hid in his dressing room, where he quickly ripped his sleeve off and pressed the dirty towel to his arm again.
The sleeve fabric was too soaked, oh, that was going to leave a permanent stain… Chiori was going to kill him, if Lynette or Father didn't get to him first…
God, what had Lyney done?!