Confetti flew through the air as the sound of cheering echoed from all around. Smiles and clapping, all directed at the man on stage, who took a bow, smiling as he always did, before setting the black box he had been using off to the side, spinning it upside down as he did, his assistant coming to take it backstage soon afterwards. As the magician, began preparing for the next trick, his eyes passed over the crowd and something flashed through his eyes for a moment, focusing in on the back of the room before he turned his attention back to what was left onstage.
The next part was an escape. One he’d done and had practiced at so many times he could perform it blindfolded. Which, he actually /had/ done before, if only in front of his family as a test.
Which is why the chaos that filled the room soon after he’d entered the suspended white box, shackled and tied as per usual, came as all the more of a shock to the yound child stood there, staring up at the stage while other people ran past him in panic.
What was going on? How had the fire started? Where was Jii-chan? Why had his father not come out yet? Why was no one trying to /help/ him?
It wasn’t until the boy felt a hand grab his arm and start to try and pull him away that he came out of the void his thoughts had been spiralling into and he protested. He faught against the insistent tug, yelling and reaching towards the stage, trying to get someone, /anyone/, to realise the magician hadn’t come out of the box. That he was still inside while the flames were crossing the stage hungrily.
But no one heard him above the sounds of the screaming and scared cries of the audience who, only minutes ago, hadn’t been able to turn away from the man they were now leaving behind. The pull slackened and a figure came to block his view of the platform, picking him up and throwing the child over a shoulder, taking him away, screaming and struggling. A head turned up one last time towards the stage, tears falling down and eyes widening as part of the rafters fell, debris and smoke completely hiding everything just before the boy was taken out.
He didn’t even notice when he was put down. Everything in his mind had gone silent as he stared at the building, eyes wide and unfocused, tears streaming down his face. A choke, and a trembling started. Then he slowly bent down. His arms reached across himself to grab tightly, almost painfully at each other, but he didn’t care. He couldn’t feel it. Nothing was hurting more than his heart right now, anyway.
“Tou-san…”
Moonlight Archive 