📜🎩 T H E ☆ M A G I C I A N - Act 70

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Spotify🎵 Mel | Mary | Bastet | Lusje | Lynette 🎵

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T H E  ☆  M A G I C I A N

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Act 70

Lucifer

They continued to talk for several more hours, only interrupted once by Lucifer fetching some snacks for Mel through a portal. The demon tried to share as much information as possible without overwhelming the human. At least not too much. About the risks, that weren’t actually that high, considering that no demon had fucked with them for whole 14 years. About whether Melchior should change anything in their career or not, with a strong tendency to leave everything as it was. About the different Monarchs of the circles. About how Bastet used to be in house Luxuria, before deciding to leave the world of demons, to potentially wither away one day. How the belief—or lack thereof—from humans affected demons. About how both the strength of their own legions and the cult of humans made demons stronger, and more.

Hearing the kid being interested in Lucifer’s background was kind of touching, but also really fucking uncomfortable. She had started a new segment in her life with Mel. She was their cane. Their little shoulder demon. Their patron. And Mel was her refugee. Her distraction.

But the past never let go of Lucifer for long. No matter how often he’d change his name or his lifestyle. 

He really had hoped it was different this time. To stay nothing but a little snake tattoo, watching his favorite little human live, thrive, and eventually die, and finally take in their soul for all eternity, always keeping it close.

Eventually, they also talked about how to proceed with the girl, Mary. The demon had been careful not to give too much input, leaving Melchior space to make their own decision. Only occasionally did they remind them about Mary’s wish to not be patronized and to have the right to choose, too.

But of course there was no easy answer.

So the kid had decided to give it some more time to simmer.

And hooo fuck, how much Lucifer wished for Mel to decide to stay with Mary. To eventually tell her the truth, too. To give her the chance to make them as happy as they have been since they met Mary, but for the rest of both of their measly mortal lives. The kid deserved it. They both did. And even if it might not last long in the end, ‘tis better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all and all that shite.

But it wasn’t Lucifer's choice to make. Nor did they want to break Mel’s trust even further by expressing wishes, thoughts, or anything that could feel manipulative to them.

So all there was left to do was to hope. May the gal charm Lucifer's pactholder so much that it were impossible for them to keep Mary away.

After the rain had finally stopped, and both of them stood wet, dirty and exhausted in the forest clearing, looking just as displaced in the world as they felt, Lucifer asked, “So. Are we good?”

Melchior didn’t answer at first. From the outside, it didn’t even seem as if they heard the demon. But she knew and felt that the human was fighting a massive internal struggle, unsure about life choices, betrayal, the future, themself.

The kid looked like an abandoned kitten in a box, left at the side of the road, in disbelief about how it got there and overwhelmed by the cruelty in the world.

His poor, little human. All they ever wanted to do in life was to perform their cute little tricks, wear top hats and be accepted. 

And now they had been 14 years without love and family, and the first time they allowed true closeness to another human being, a whole other dimension came crashing down on them, with its own dangers, politics, and overall weight. On top of that, they felt abused by their dedicated service demon. And… probably rightfully so.

Lucifer felt bad. He didn’t want this for Mel. 

The snake leaned down his head right in front of Melchior, not close enough to touch them, but close enough to be easily reached, if the human should wish to do so.

“I know you don’t believe me, but I love you.”

Finally, the little mortal creature reacted. They slowly lifted their head, their eyes reflecting shock and disbelief.

Lucifer knew what Mel wanted to say. He could feel it in his bones. ‘You’re right, I don’t believe you.’ And seeing their morals and values compared to the demon realm ones, it wasn’t hard to understand why.

“I hope one day you can see that. Not because of me—you’re merely more than an entertaining minute in my life, after all, so I will have plenty of time to get over you. But because of you. You don’t deserve to feel so alone.”

For a moment it seemed that Mel wanted to reach out, but instead, they clenched their hands into fists, averting their gaze again.

“I can’t forgive you for what you have done all those years ago. Seeing how you failed to notify me about what dangers I almost got Mary into reminded me of that.”

The snake let its head rest right where it was, even though the words hurt her more than she was willing to admit.

“I know, kid… Do you want to talk about it?”

“No.”

“I get that. Then maybe… just accept that both things can be true. To not forgive me and to know that I care.”

“You killed people!”

Lucifer winced. “Please, stop. I did. Plenty. And I most likely will do so again, once you’re dead. Probably even before that. And I lie, play games, and hurt out of pure sadistic joy. I know I am everything evil to you. I know your sickly innocent, philanthropic, humanistic heart can’t accept any of this. But as I told you before… you’re stuck with me. So… at the very least, let’s try to get along again. It doesn’t have to be this hard.”

Mel’s knuckles turned white, their lips pressed together to fine lines.

“Can you at least see that I was trying to protect you and the girl? That I chose the way I did because I thought it was the best for you?”

“Yes.”

“Look, that’s a start. Let’s work on this together. I apologized, you could do, too. For example for all these mean things that you said---?”

“I just can’t. I can’t.”

The human finally let go of their clutched fists, their fingers now hanging down their hands almost lifelessly. Lucifer looked at them, yearning. C’mon, kid. I’m so close. I’m here. Despite everything, I’m here. Reach out.

Mel looked at Lucifer with exhausted, lost eyes. They suddenly looked so… old. It was painful to see.

Then they finally lifted one of their hands, close to the snake's nose.

Yes. I’m here. I’m here.

But eventually, Melchior wasn’t able to. They averted their gaze and turned away, taking every chance of closeness with them for now.

“Let’s go and get dry. There’s a manager waiting to yell at us.”

Then they opened a portal, leaving Lusje behind.

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