Chapter Text
"December 9th, 8:55pm
Penrose Theater - Dressing room".
"Are you okay?" Trucy put down her make-up brush, raising her head to look at the horn-haired boy asking the question. He was staring at her with eyes full of care, which she honestly found kind of flattering. The magician knew exactly why he asked her this question. It was painfully obvious.
"Of course! Why do you ask?" She rested her chin on her hands, smiling cheerfully.
She was, in fact, not feeling okay at all. The whole day seemed to be a fire to walk through, with her body feeling incredibly weak, and her head feeling numb. Not to mention the dizziness..
Nevertheless, she didn't want to go on and unpack all of that on her friend. Not now, not ever, and definitely not 5 minutes before she goes out on the stage to perform.
Apollo looked at her disturbed. "Then what's up? Are you nervous?"
"Why would I be nervous?" She snickered. "I'm doing this my whole life, I don't remember ever being nervous about performing. I'm a natural, you know!" She stated, only to go back to touching up her make-up.
In the corner of her eye, she could notice Apollo getting a bit irritated with her avoiding the main problem with such a positive yet ignorant attitude.
"Okay Ms. Natural. Care to explain why you are shaking so much then?" He asked, going straight to the point, not leaving her a corner to back into.
He was correct. The girl had been shaking excessively this whole evening. Surely it did not help her with preparations for the show, making her reapply eyeliner about four times before getting it right. At this point it was too obvious to deny it.
"Hmmm..." She hummed, resting her back against the chair, pretending to look for a reason for such an odd occurrence.
"Maybe it's just adrenaline, you know? I'm pretty pumped for today!" She explained, hoping that would be enough to get Polly off her back.
Trucy always seemed very cheerful and bubbly, but sometimes she would go to extremes, putting on an act just to make people leave her alone and not push the subject any further. To that Apollo could only roll his eyes and ignore the feeling of his bracelet tightening around his wrist.
The only thing left for him to do, is letting her know how unhappy he got with the outcome of this conversation. "Sure. Whate--"
"Are you two done?!" appeared suddenly, followed with a loud bang on the desk just next to Trucy. The two in question both jumped, not expecting another person to burst in their conversation in such a harsh way.
The unexpected third was Betty de famme. One of Trucy's co workers she's been collaborating with for over a year, and now also half of the "de famme" duo. The other half was her sister, Bonny, who just approached the group and hid behind her.
"What Betty wanted to say..." Bonny started to explain her sister's rude manner, "is if you don't go on stage now you might miss your cue."
"Oh shit!" The magicians eyes widened, as she did not realize how quickly those 5 minutes had passed. She immediately put on her hat and rushed on stage not leaving Apollo any time to even wish her good luck before the show.
♠ ♥ ♦ ♣
The show was going really great. Trucy started right off the bat with some advanced illusions, getting the audience hooked.
It had changed a lot since the time it first aired. The star of the show was getting more and more comfortable with some advanced, or even extreme tricks. She loved playing around and shocking the audience, watching their jaws drop when she catches a bullet between her teeth or is supposedly being slaughtered by a guillotine, just to show them her neck is still in one piece.
For her, they were kind of her own show. Nothing would entertain her quite as much as the over the top reaction of the public.
Her coworkers's act had changed as well. Bonny and Betty were now know as the De Famme duo. They specialized in less extreme tricks, focusing on mesmerizing illusions. Their role was perfectly balancing out the show, keeping the audience on their toes, but preventing them from getting a heart attack because of Trucy's overbearing performance.
Today wasn't any different; the show was really intense. Apollo, being the magician's assistant, was backstage running around, controlling the lights and props from there. It seems like nothing much, yet not even halfway through he was already dead tired and sweating bullets. He couldn't imagine how exhausting the performance had to be for the girls, especially for Trucy.
It was time for one of the most undemanding tricks that the magicians used. The teleportation trick. It didn't require much of Apollo's assistance, so the boy decided to make use of the few minutes to rest. He rested his back against a wall backstage, peeking at the cameras, making sure everything on the stage goes smoothly.
It was funny, really. After seeing this trick so many times it felt more like a video burned into his mind rather than a live performance. He remembered it so well. He saw his best friend disappear from the stage to the understage passage in the blink of an eye. He knew she would appear on the other side of the stage in about ten seconds.
But ten seconds passed and she didn't reappear on the stage. The boy felt his muscles tense up. Trucy was such a perfectionist, it wasn't like her at all. He saw the duet looking just as confused as him. Fifteen seconds passed. Nothing changed.
"Mr. Justice, where is Trucy?" He heard Bonny's voice in his headset, making his soul leave his body. What on earth is happening?
"I...I'll go check on her in the understage passage" He stuttered, while De famme duo improvised to not let the audience notice the sudden change of plans.
"December 9th, 9:40pm
Penrose theater - Understage passage."
With a light torch in his hand Apollo walked down the stairs leading to the understage passage. To him, this place always seemed like something out of a bad horror movie. Ton of dust, spider webs, bugs... And the gut wrenching basement - like smell. All of that gave him chills.
"Trucy?.. Are you there?" His voice echoed. No answer. The anticipation was horrid.
He used his light torch to look around the room. Among the nothingness he saw a figure. A petite girl, collapsed on the floor, motionless. His stomach dropped. He stood there, completely frozen up, unable to move a muscle, with eyes wide open. His lips began to tremble.
"T - Trucy!!!" He yelled out as he ran and dropped to his knees next to the brunette. His first thought? Murder. After so many cases they've been through at WAA it wouldn't be unusual. He checked the girl's pulse and to his relief it was normal. He checked her breathing; normal as well. Oh thank god.
His hands wobbled when he tried to press a button on his headset to speak directly to the girls still performing on the stage right above him.
"B-B-B-Bonny!!! Cancel the show!! T-Trucy is --" he tried to explain the circumstances but not one word seemed to leave his mouth. How did this happen? WHY did it happen?? Trucy was used to a lot of physical exertion. Why on earth would she pass out all of a sudden? Then again, she was trembling so much before the show...
All of those thoughts were racing through his mind, so much that he didn't even notice the concerned voices in the headset demanding an explanation. He didn't even notice how many minutes had passed, he just held the girl in his arms, hoping she would soon wake up and be fine.
Soon enough, Trucy opened up her eyes. They didn't adjust to the light just yet, blinding her for a solid few seconds after which she found herself back in the dressing room. The magician felt someone holding her head up. This certain individual was her beloved assistant, who seemed extremally distressed. He was barely holding back tears, yet he seemed relieved to see her come back to life.
"Trucy-- oh thank goodness you're fine!!" He pulled her close for a hug, squeezing her so hard that she could only let out a groan before realizing what was happening. She was still feeling quite dizzy, but she put her arms around his shoulders, returning the favor.
Her confused eyes looked around the room, only to stop at the sight of one of her coworkers approaching both of them. "Are you feeling okay? You passed out understage.." Bonny clarified, seeing the magician clearly not understanding the situation that just occurred.
"What??" The girl's eyes widened. "But, I-- What about the show??" Standing up she sputtered, now highly aware.
"Well.." The purple haired girl murmured, nervously holding onto her fake bunny ears. Her sister, standing in the corner of the room, looked up from her phone just to interrupt them yet again. "Well, he told us to cancel it." Betty pointed at Apollo. "Because of you." She added.
Trucy turned her head to look down at the boy. He knew he was in trouble. He looked up at her, and oh boy was he right. She stared at him with eyes so piercing, he could feel it burn a hole right in the middle of his forehead. The girl crossed her arms.
She sometimes looked just like Mr. Wright. Apollo felt like he was about to get scolded by his boss, which technically was also the case.
"Why did you tell them to cancel today?" She began questioning him, with an uncanny monotone tone. The boy would very much prefer to be yelled at. He knew that she's that serious only when she's very mad.
He stood up to face his sister who seemed to be about to whoop his ass. "I--" he struggled to get through with it. "God damn it Trucy, you passed out! What was I supposed to tell them?" He shouted in a desperate attempt to explain himself.
"To improvise? To go on without me?? To not cancel the show over such a minor inconvenience!?" She raised her voice. Almost matching his chords of steel.
"Minor inconvenience!?" How could she say that?? She passed out, god damn it!
"Yes! I would be fine, I would've come through and just go back up on stage!"
"But you weren't fine!!" Apollo yelled, catching the girl off guard.
"... that's ironic coming from you, Polly." she gave her coworkers a quick signal, saying they can go home, then approached the desk, putting all of her things back into her blue purse. The girls started packing as well and the horn haired boy decided to lay off the conversation until they were left alone.
Soon enough, him and Trucy where the only souls left in this very dressing room. It seemed like both of them were unsure how to continue this conversation.
"I want to go home, okay? I'm tired." The magician stated, finally breaking the awkward silence.
"You don't get to just walk away from this!" Apollo protested.
"Polly, this is the first time you visited since you've stayed in Khura'in." She murmured, looking down at the floor. "I don't want to argue with you". She stated outright, her eyes again locked on his face.
It's not like he wanted to argue either, that was not even what he tried to do. "You don't get to turn tables on me like that!" He exclaimed, loud as ever. "You say you don't want to argue, yet you're the one who's making this difficult."
The girl furrowed her brows again, making sure her brother notices how strongly she disagrees with his statement. "How?" She asked, demanding an explanation.
"Look" He started. "I just want to know why you were in such a bad condition that you passed out during your show." He stated, in the same tone he uses during all his cross-examinations.
It felt like she was being questioned in court. She felt sick. "I don't know, it was a pretty intense day."
"I don't believe you one bit! You're used to days such as this one." The boy pointed out her bluff.
As much as she didn't want it to show, he pissed her off. "What do you want me to say?" She asked, displeased with the way he was questioning her like some criminal.
"I want you to tell me the reason why you fainted." He demanded. "You were shaking before the show, there has to be an explanation for it!"
"Maybe I'm just tired." She proposed, looking away from his face. "I am working hard to make my shows entertaining."
"To a point of passing out?" The boy asked, trying to make the girl realize that she's taking things too far. "Trucy, did you even eat anything today?"
"Why are you acting like this?" She asked. He was worried, sure, but the way he held the conversation only made her feel like she's being attacked.
"Well did you, or did you not?" He repeated his question.
"Of course I did, I had some leftovers from yesterday." She stated.
Apollo felt his bracelet tighten around his wrist. Is Trucy lying about something like this? His body tensed up, this is getting serious. He connected the dots and he hated the conclusion which withdrew from it.
"Trucy you... You're fidgeting with your brooch right now". He pointed out. "Are you lying to me?"
She stayed silent, looking him straight in the eyes, unsure of how to reply to that. She knew he knew she was lying, there wasn't much she could do about that.
"When was the last time you ate?" Apollo asked, now more concerned rather than upset.
"I had some yoghurt yesterday." She murmured, lowering her gaze. She couldn't bear to look at the boy in front of her, but she could imagine his expression. He was disappointed.
"yesterday...?" He repeated the last bit of her sentence, trying to process what she just confessed to. The day was almost over, yet the brunette just admitted that the last time she ate anything was yesterday.
"Trucy, I... " He knew she wasn't going to like what he was about to say. "I have to tell Mr. Wright about it."
The room went quiet. The magician gazed upon the boy again, but this time was different than before. She was gripping her crossed arms with such force that her fingers left marks on her skin. She stared right through him, with stare so cold, that he felt frozen up.
"Are you doing this on purpose? Why would you want to tell HIM?" She blustered.
"Trucy, he has to know." He tried to explain himself.
"No he doesn't! It's none of his business anymore!" She protested. "it's none of YOURS either!!" She pointed at him.
"You're putting yourself in danger! Do you realize that!?" The boy shouted out in a desperate attempt to make her understand his point.
"Of course I am! I am a magician! Do you realize that this is not a safe career!?" She raged. "Don't you think things would look different if being one wouldn't come with the risk? Have you ever stopped to wonder why our mother disappeared for so many years, with memory loss? And I thought he explained it so clearly to us."
He knew that mentioning Mr. Wright would make her fume.
Phoenix told them about their blood relation just a few months ago. As much as both of them got upset with the man withholding such important information from both of them, Trucy's reaction seemed a bit extreme. They had a big fight, and just a few days later she had moved out and completely cut off her dad for over two months.
Maybe she was hurt because she wouldn't think her beloved daddy would keep something like that from her. They used to be really close after all.
Trucy started talking to her dad again just about two weeks ago and things were still quite awkward, not leaving much of their close bond. Apollo understood why she wouldn't want Mr. Wright getting to know about what just occurred. But did she leave him a choice?
Apollo sighed. He knew there's no way he'll get through to her when she's in a state like that.
"I'll call Athena" he stated. "Let's wrap it up for today."
"You don't need to call her" the brunette replied, grabbing her coat from the rack. "I can just walk home."
"I'm not having you passing out somewhere on the side of the road in the middle of the night." He replied decisively.
Despite the magician's many protests, Apollo had called Athena, asking if she could pick them up from the theater.
♠ ♥ ♦ ♣
"December 9th, 10:40pm
Penrose theater - parking lot"
"Polly, let go of me!!" The sound of arguing filled the empty parking lot.
Apollo held Trucy tightly by her wrist. He had to basically drag her towards the car. Athena seemed to be waiting inside, with the engine still running.
It was merely less than a minute walk, yet it felt like an eternity for both of them, with Trucy's protests and Apollo standing his ground.
They approached the car. "I really can just walk home! It's like a fifteen minute walk for god's sake!!" The girl furrowed her brows.
"Trucy, I--"
"No! Why do you get to decide about what I do?!" She shouted before he could say anything.
Apollo was so done with her. He knew it wouldn't be nice, but then again it seemed impossible to change her mind, and he didn't feel like dealing with her tantrums.
He opened the back door of the car and shoved the girl inside, trapping her inside of the vehicle. As he walked to the passenger door he could hear the brunette cursing him out.
He got into the vehicle, sitting next to the clearly disturbed driver. "Heyy uh.. guys that just looked like a god damn kidnapping" said the redhead, starting to drive.
"Yeah, sorry about that." The boy scratched his neck, knowing that the situation they're putting Athena in is a bit awkward. "That was the only way she would-- YOEWCH!! What the hell!?"
He felt the magician's boots kick the back of his sit with all her strength. Trucy didn't understand why Apollo would paint her as the problem. She didn't really do anything wrong, this wasn't fair in any way.
"You're being so terrible to me the whole night!" She accused the boy in the seat in front of her, as he felt another strong kick on his back. He remained silent, ignoring her completely.
Most of the ride Trucy spent kicking the seat of the boy in front of her, throwing all of her complaints at him. She wished she could stop, but her mouth didn't let her. She made sure he would get how much of an ass he is and how he was mistreating her this whole day. Apollo tried his best to ignore her, but at some point he just couldn't take it.
"God, you're... such a fucking pain in the ass, Trucy." He exclaimed, finally shutting up the girl.
Hearing that from Polly was incredibly painful. She wanted to believe that he said it just in the rage of the moment. But what if that's actually what he thinks about her? What if she's just a burden, an annoying girl that never seems to leave him alone?
"Is that really all you think of me?" She asked. "Am I just a pain in the ass for you!?" She raised her voice, and began to kick him again.
"God damn it, STOP! You're acting like a child!!" He yelled out turning to the girl, just to find the black sole of her shoe almost hit his face. "What the-- are you INSANE!?"
For few seconds it was just them, screaming at each other. None of them tried to make any logical arguments, they just insulted each other, throwing any word that would just shut down the other.
They got interrupted by a harsh pull. The car stopped so suddenly it almost threw them out of their seats. The two of them looked at Athena, who was holding on to the steering wheel so tightly it seemed like it could break any moment.
"Guys I-" she hesitated, lifting her shaky hand to fidget with her earring. "I can't drive like that, you two are stressing me out." She explained. Her passenger stayed quiet.
"I just got my license a month ago... I need to be able to focus. Please."
Both of them apologized for stressing out the redhead like that.
They spent the rest of the ride in complete silence. Trucy felt her eyes watering. Please, don't cry. Please anything but that. There was nothing in the whole world more embarrassing for her than crying. Crying in front of people was even worse, it reminded everyone of how pathetic she truly is.
She had to find a place to look to prevent the tears from streaming down her face. Once one would come out it would be impossible to stop them, and if her friends would notice her in such a state she would surely cry simply out of embarrassment. The roof of the car was too obvious. They would surely notice.
She decided to go with the safest option and looked out the car window, pretending to be interested in the landscape of their boring neighborhood. Sometimes Trucy really hated herself. She hated how pathetic she felt all the time. Right now she just wanted to burst into tears, apologize to her best friend and cry into his shoulder, but she knew she wouldn't be able to live with herself after something like that.
Instead she decided to take off her magician's hat, wrap her arms around it and hold it close. At least it brought her the smallest ounce of comfort.
Soon, Athena stopped the car again, this time to drop off her coworker. She found herself not able to break the awkward silence. The atmosphere seemed so thick that you could've cut it with a knife.
Apollo looked at her, giving her the courage to say anything. "That's your stop" she smiled nervously.
"Thanks Athena, see ya tomorrow." He said as he opened the door.
While leaving the vehicle, Apollo noticed the brunette staring outside the car window with her silk magician hat clutched to her chest.
"Night, Trucy." He said, only to be met with piercing silence.
"Look I... I really didn't mean to be so rude. You're just so god damn stubborn sometimes." He tried to explain himself. He couldn't help but feel that it really would have been easier to have a conversation with a wall. "It kind of feels like nothing gets through to you." He murmured.
Trucy only furrowed her brow further, crushing any chances the boy had trying to fix this unpleasant interaction. A sigh left his mouth, along with any hope he had for being a good brother. "Please, eat something before you go to bed." Was the last thing he said before closing the door and taking off in the direction of his apartment.
♠ ♥ ♦ ♣
"December 9th, 11:45pm
Trucy's room"
With her back against the wall, Trucy held a lighter in her hand. It was a very pretty lighter, the boxy type, designed like a deck of cards with ace of spades on top. It's fire was a lovely shade of blue, which she found very pleasing to look at.
She played with it in her hand. Every time she would light it, it made a satisfying click. She would just turn it on and off, staring at the fire with no emotions behind her eyes. It seemed like her mind was somewhere else.
On, and off, and on, and off, and on...
While she was fidgeting, she heard the door of her room open, followed by a trail of light coming from the hallway. Trucy quickly put the lighter down and pulled the sheet over her thighs. She had to stop herself from making a sound. God, how it burned.
A head peeked inside, and to no surprise it was her roommate. "Hey Trucy, you okay?" Athena asked concerned.
"Mhm!" The brunette hummed, hoping the girl wouldn't notice that her face was all wet, and that her eyes were red and swollen.
To be honest, she still wasn't used to living with Athena. She was quite a nosy roommate, often checking on her or coming to her room to talk. Trucy didn't mind, they got really close during these few months, and she was grateful to have such a wonderful friend, but it was moments like these that made it a bit difficult.
"I was gonna make some hot cocoa, do you want a cup?" The ginger asked, now fully standing in her door.
"No, thank you though." She kindly declined, not realizing that it was an invitation to spend some time together, rather than an actual question.
"Oh" it caught Thena off guard. "Um... Then maybe you want to watch something? Would you be up for that?" She asked, full of hope.
"I thought you were about to make hot cocoa?" Trucy raised an eyebrow.
Athena turned red and started nervously playing with her hair. Looks like she got caught. "Shit, I'm sorry it was just a bluff..."
"I just wanted to check on you." She stated her real intentions.
The magician let out a chuckle. "Okayy... Honestly, I would love to watch something" she started. "Just not today."
She saw the sparkle leave Athena's eyes as quickly as it appeared. It felt horrible.
"Sorry, I'm just really really tired." She cracked a smile. The ginger gave her a sad smile in return.
"Soo maybe tomorrow..?" Her roommate asked, hoping to encourage the girl to hang out.
"Of course!! We could watch this movie that you talk about all the time!" The brunette really hoped her bubbly act was convincing enough. She didn't want her friend to worry about her. She wasn't worthy enough to be thought about.
It seemed her roommate believed her performance. She seemed very happy with the suggestion too. "Can't wait! Night night!" she smiled and gently closed the door, letting the room sink in pitch black darkness.
Once she was alone, Trucy let out a shaky sigh and felt warm tears streaming down her face. She was so tired and everything seemed so overwhelming.
The girl collapsed onto her bed, buried her face in a pillow and let out a sob. She couldn't stop thinking about everything. She thought about her today's performance being cancelled, she thought about her fight with Apollo and she couldn't help but wonder if the boy hated her now, if he never wanted to speak again, and if he ever wanted to speak to her to begin with.
She thought about how just now her roommate offered so much just to cheer her up. It felt pathetic. The way she turned her off was just cruel. She saw how sad Athena was because of her.
She couldn't stop thinking about how much the burns on her thighs hurt. It didn't hurt enough. She thought about how because of her actions her relationship with her daddy was ruined. She wondered if he hated her as much as she hated herself.
Trucy took out a lighter she hid under her pillow and turned it on. The fire seemed so warm and comforting. She itched to feel it on her thighs again.
She turned it off and put it down near herself. It was pathetic, but she was too exhausted to punish herself again. The girl wished there was a way to shut everything off, to stop thinking. She wished she could just die. At least no one would have to deal with the pain in the ass she was.
Trucy pulled the sheet over her head and pressed her face against the pillow. The limitation of oxygen was comforting. She slid her fingers on her neck, fantasizing about a rope tightly wrapped around it.
The girl imagined herself choking hopelessly, slowly losing control over her body. She imagined her head going blank, kind of like it did when she fainted. It felt so peaceful.
As beautiful as it seemed, the magician knew she was way too scared to die. One thing she hated is knowing how others would react. She didn't wish to sadden anyone, even more so, she didn't want to ruin anyone's life just because she couldn't handle her own.
She decided to go for the second closest thing to being dead, which was going to sleep. She turned her soaked pillow to the other side and tried her best to ignore feeling like her thighs are on fire.
When Trucy was small and couldn't sleep, she always went to Phoenix. He would tuck her in and kiss her goodnight on the forehead, staying by the girl's side until she fell asleep.
She could barely breathe trying her best to sob as quiet as she can. God, he probably hates me now, she thought to herself. Maybe it was what she deserved. She was the one who ignored him for two months straight after he got the courage to explain their messed up family situation.
Eventually the magician managed to cry herself to sleep, getting both sides of her pillow equally soaked in her sorrows. She hoped she wouldn't wake up again.