〖 Love is an Illusion 〗➻❥ LYNEY × READER

♦ Chapter 10 ♦

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A wave of silence washes over the audience as the lights dim and the curtains are pulled open. On the stage there is what appears to be a singular dove, pecking a playing card on the wooden floor. A familiar murmuring travels around the room. You nudge your father, who sits to your left with a curious look towards the stage.

"You're gonna enjoy this, I just know it," you whisper. He smiles at you.

A cloud of grey smoke surrounds the bird on the stage, regaining the audience's attention. The smoke is blown away and the dove is nowhere to be seen, replaced by Lynette, who bows and picks up the card as applause fills the room. She shows the card to the audience. Illustrated on it is a figure with a top hat; it holds a glowing heart close to its chest in prayer.

"The Magician," Lynette begins, "is a symbol of manifestation, resourcefulness, and power. However..." She flips the card over and holds it with two fingers. The other side reveals a fallen angel, its wings cracked and blackened, its heart split in two.

"A magician must understand the weight he bears." Lynette rips the card down the middle, throwing the two pieces to opposite sides of the stage. She takes her top hat off and flips it in the air as it lands on the tip of her finger.

"Discipline," she says, watching it twirl. She throws it in the air with great force until it suspends itself high above the stage.

"Potential." The hat releases many doves which fly to the audience, then backstage. Lynette holds an arm up to the hat, reaching for it with a longing expression.

"Manipulation."

The hat falls back down and she catches it, swiftly placing it back on her head. "What will become of The Magician?" Lynette walks over to one side of the stage, picking up one of the card's halves. The magician's hands hold the glowing heart even closer than before. But on the other side, the angel is left without its wings, only a split heart. "The Star? The Devil?"

She waves the card around slowly. As close as the audience watches, however, the card disappears into thin air. She makes her way to the other side of the stage, looking at the audience.

"Or perhaps..." She picks up the other half. "...The Fool?" The card has a magician's praying expression on one side and a pair of broken, ashy wings on the other.

You look over to your father, who is especially invested in the show.

Lynette makes the ripped card disappear once again before standing at the center of the stage, looking around at the audience.

"The Magician," she whispers. "Many believe he has made a waste of his untapped talent. But what lies on the surface..." Her eyes twinkle. Suddenly, she explodes into a puff of grey smoke, in her place a small dove. Her voice, soft yet powerful, drifts throughout the room.

"...is simply an illusion."

The curtains draw.

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