Magic Trio x Reader: Maybe Destiny

10. Breathe Again

Lukas approached you one day at school which was rare. Usually when he approached you, it was to get Matthias to stop bothering you, but this time he came alone when none of the usual people he hung out with were present. The truth was you had been on his mind for a while – longer than any other person had managed to stay in his thoughts anyway – and he was finally acting on it. An opportunity had finally presented itself to get close to you, and he reached for it, not one to let opportunities pass him by.

“A party?”

“Yes, I’d like it if you would go with me or something,” Lukas muttered, his face dusted with a light pink. He was often cold and quiet. Most of the things you heard from him were him trying to get Emil to call him big brother in public and keeping Matthias in line whenever he got rowdy. Now he was asking you out? You didn’t even know he was interested in you that way – he rarely talked to you.

“Like a Halloween party or something?”

“Yes. Do you want to go or not?” he snapped. You flinched at his tone. He wasn’t used to asking
girls out. Or being very interested in most. But he really liked you. You were interesting. “I didn’t mean to raise my voice. I don’t usually do this sort of thing, but….”

“It’s fine. I’d love to. It sounds like a lot of fun.”

“G-good. Arthur and Vlad are coming too, so yeah….”

“Oh. I thought it was a date.” Lukas’s face lit up even brighter in a blush.

“I-it is. Sort of. I mean. You’re going kind of as my date. I mean… I-I’ll just pick you up at six or something,” he muttered before walking off. You giggled. You were used to serious Lukas and mad Lukas, but you found flustered Lukas was pretty entertaining too. But it didn’t matter if you thought his behavior was silly, because that opportunity he reached for was in his grasp and he intended to hold on to it tightly.

“I’m going as a prince. So c-could you….”

“Dress as a princess?” you guessed.

“Y-yeah. Thanks.”

“No problem,” you said with smile that made his heart skip a beat.

~

Lukas picked you up at ten o’ clock that night along with Vlad and Arthur and the four of you drove to a mansion on the edge of town. It was on top of a hill and stood intimidatingly before you, silhouetted darkly by the bright moon behind it.

“The party’s here?” you asked, feeling odd about the situation you currently found yourself here.

“It looks abandoned.” The windows were cracked, and the roof was full of holes. And the lawn and surrounding foliage was dried out and brown, appearing black in the night’s shadows. Vlad began to pick the lock.

“It is,” Vlad said, “We have to invite the guests ourselves.” With a click, the door unlocked. It was dark inside, so you instantly clung to the nearest person – which just so happened to be Lukas. He flushed, not that you noticed. You walked into the house. The furniture was covered in sheets and everything was covered in a thick layer of dust and cobwebs.

“So then… how do we invite the guests?” you asked as you continued to cling to Lukas’s arm. It was rather dim, the only light being provided by the moon through the large windows that lined the walls.

“With three simple steps,” Vlad said as he made a large circle on the floor out of salt, “That was step one.” Lukas led you to the middle of the circle, careful to not let the skirt of your dress, break the circle.

“What’s the next step?” you asked as you noticed them laying down red candles on the outside of the circle and place a silver candelabra with three more red candles situated in it in the center of the circle. Lukas set an old fashioned pocket watch next to the candelabra. It read 11:58.

“We sit in the circle and light the candles,” Arthur explained. You took your eat and they sat next to you after lighting the outer candles. You noticed they hadn’t lit the other three yet?

“What about those ones?” you said as you pointed to them.

“That’s how we invite the guests. Now we all have to be quiet while I do the ritual. Everyone hold your breath and close your eyes once all the candles have been lit.” You took a deep breath and held it. Arthur took out some matches and lit the first one. He lit the first candle. “Welcome,” he said. He lit the next candle. The clock read 11:59 “Thank you for coming.” And he finally lit the last candle. You closed your eyes, and you heard a faint whisper of, “Thank you for having us.” It wasn’t Arthur’s voice or anyone else’s either. You felt the temperature drop. And you heard the sound of fast playing classical music. It started off quietly but then grew louder.

“May I have this dance?” You recognized Lukas’s voice and opened your eyes. Your eyes widened as you looked around you. The mansion, which had been in shambles, was restored to what it must have looked like before it was abandoned. All around you were men and women dressed in finery and expensive, silken dresses dancing and talking. In the corner was a large table covered in cakes and puddings and hors d’oeuvres. In another corner was a quartet that was playing the beautiful music. You marveled at how beautiful everything was. Your own dress had changed too. Instead of the Cinderella dress you had gotten, you had an off the shoulder ball gown with a full skirt in your favorite color. It was covered in jewels and so was your hair which was elegantly styled into a bun. Even Lukas, Arthur, and Vlad had outfits that made them appear to be of royal/noble descent.

“Lukas, how…?”

“Black Magic Club secret,” he said with a smirk. You took his hand and he led you to the dance floor.

“Who are these people?” you whispered as the two of you whirled around the room. He leaned in closer to you.

“Over there is Anne Boleyn, Marie Antoinette, Elizabeth Tudor, and Mary Tudor. Over there you’ll see Charles Dickens, Hans Christian Andersen, Oscar Wilde, Mary Shelley, and Jane Austen. Over there we have Marie Curie, Gregor Mendel, Leonardo Da Vinci, and Edward Jenner.” Lukas continued to point out famous figures in history and you couldn’t believe it. But you also couldn’t believe that your cheap princess costume had actually turned into a ball gown, that the run down home had become a grand ballroom, or that really anything that you were seeing was happening.

“This is amazing, Lukas,” you said in awe as the two of you continued to whirl around the ballroom.

“I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself,” Lukas said with a soft smile.

“You should smile more often,” you said as you gazed at his deep blue eyes, “You looks so much more handsome when you don’t look so cranky.”

“You don’t have to babysit the Dane all the time,” he said with a roll of his eyes. You giggled.

“The two of you have one of the most interesting friendships at school.”

“If that’s what you want to call it,” he grumbled. Whether he wanted to admit it or not, you knew they were close in their own way. The two of you took a break after a few more dances to eat and talk with the ghosts of a few of the famous writers (you had a thing for classic literature) before you found yourselves back on the dance floor once more about an hour or two later.

“I have to ask you a question. Whose house is this?” The question had been buzzing in your mind for a while. After all, abandoned houses – well-furnished abandoned houses no less – had to have been inhabited at some point.

“I don’t know. To be honest, this is the first time we’ve done this.”

“Do you think we could explore the house?” In your excitement you had stopped dancing and grabbed both of his hands. He was surprised at your eagerness and blinked before giving a wary look.

“I’m not sure. It might be rude.”

“Well do you think anyone here might own it?”

“I doubt it. A good percentage of the people here aren’t from this country.”

“So what’s stopping us?” He thought it over for another minute.

“Okay,” he said before leading you off of the dance floor. The two of you went up a grand staircase and began to walk around the upper floor. The walls were decorated in elegant paintings with gilded frames. The house was amazing with several parlor rooms and bedrooms with grand fireplaces. The two of you paused when you came to a large study. Lukas wanted to look at the large collection of books. You looked at the other things in the room. There was a large curtain on the wall above the mantle of one of the fireplaces. It had a cord attached. You pulled the cord and the curtain parted down the middle to reveal a woman and man sitting side by side with their hands entwined.  The man had blonde hair and gray eyes. It was funny how similar his appearance actually resembled Lukas.

You looked at the woman who was oddly familiar.

“________...,” Lukas’s voice came from right behind you. “She looks just like you.” You looked back at the woman. It was true that she had __h/c__ hair and __e/c__ eyes and __s/c__ skin, but you just couldn’t place the resemblance between the two of you.

“And the man looks like you, but he has gray eyes instead of blue ones.”

“How odd. Maybe there’s a diary or something on one of the bookshelves or on the desk over there that has a little history on this.” He walked to the other side of the room to inspect some of the books. You were about to follow him but you could have sworn that faintly, ever so faintly, you could hear the sound of someone crying. You poked your head outside the room and into the hallway and walked down the hall. The sobbing got louder and you poked your head into another study. There was a man bent over sitting on the couch crying.

You stepped closer.

“E-excuse me,” you called out meekly. You placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. He looked at you and both your eyes and his widened in surprise. Before you was the man from the portrait.

“_________, is it truly you?” He stepped closer to you, and for whatever reason, you were frozen in place. He placed a hand on your waist and your face and pulled you in closely. W-was he going to kiss you?! “I’ve waited so long for this moment. The moment you would return to me.”

“I-I’m sorry,” you said as you gently removed his hands, “You have the wrong woman.”

“No. I know you. It must be you. You’re even wearing the dress the day we confessed our love to each other and agreed to be wed.”

“No. I’m not. I’m too young to be married.”

“________, where did you go?” You could hear Lukas calling you from down the hall. You backed away from the man.

“I-I have to go.” You ran from the room, hearing him call after you.

“________, where have you be –” You didn’t give Lukas time to finish his sentence. You just grabbed his hand and ran back down the stairs.

Once you reached the bottom of the stairs, Lukas stopped you.

“What’s wrong?”

“T-the man from the portrait. I saw him. He thinks I’m a woman of the same name. He said that he loved me.” You flushed at the thought.

“That’s interesting. I found a journal in one of the desk drawers. It said that his house belongs to a man named Jean Luc. He met a girl of a family that his family was feuding with and they fell in love. It’s a classic Romeo and Juliet story, but the night they were supposed to run away together, she didn’t show up.”

“That’s awful. What do you think happened?”

“I don’t know. But we should keep moving so your ‘lover’ doesn’t find you and try to drag you away.” Lukas led you to the garden outside. There was a large rose maze, and he thought the two of you would be safest in the center. It was freezing outside and Lukas took off his jacket and handed to you while he went to go get Arthur and Vlad. You looked around the large hedge walls surrounding you. The roses were all dried out and dead. That’s when you heard a twig snap. You assumed it was Lukas, but… it was coming from a different direction than the one he had left in. You walked a bit closer to the corner where you heard the noise and it was like looking in a mirror. She was wearing the exact same dress as you. The two of you circled each other one way and then back the other way.

“H-hello,” she said quietly. She even sounded like you.

“Hi.”

“Have you seen Luc? He was supposed to meet here an hour ago. And it’s so cold out here.”

“You’re waiting for Luc?”

“Yes. I sent him a letter a few days ago saying that we had leave sooner than planned, but he hasn’t responded or shown up.” It clicked. Jean Luc had never gotten her letter. She stayed out here until she froze to death or left and never returned.

“I’m sure he’ll be along soon. You won’t leave will you?”

“Of course not! I’ll wait until I’m frozen all the way through for him.” Ah. So she had died there.

~

Meanwhile in the house, Lukas, Vlad, and Arthur were doing a little more digging around. They had uncovered two things pertaining to the mystery of Jean Luc and _______. And they were the only clues they needed. A letter written by ________ saying she would wait for Luc in the garden and a newspaper describing how __________ had gone missing. How convenient that the paper and letter were written only a few days apart.

Quietly they placed the letter near Jean Luc and ran to the garden to grab you and hide until it was all over, and, sure enough, Jean Luc ran into the garden to his lover. You began to tear up a bit. You watched as white light engulfed the two once they kissed. When it faded they were both wearing white. A white suit for him and a wedding gown for her. They ascended a stairway of light and you could hear wedding bells ringing faintly in the distance. You and the boys left your hiding spots.

“That was beautiful,” you whispered.

“Yes, but the party is winding down. Perhaps it’s time to end the ritual,” Arthur said.

“How do we do that?” You asked.

“You simply start breathing again.” You hadn’t realized you’d been holding your breath the entire time. You hadn’t even realized you didn’t feel the need to breathe when you were talking. You took in a breath, and everything went black.

~

You opened your eyes and realized you were back in the old, dark mansion and back in your own clothes and so were they.

“That was,” you breathed, “So amazing.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” Vlad said while standing up. Lukas helped you up. You stumbled a bit and he caught you around the waist, holding you close. You both blushed.

“We should get you home,” Lukas muttered.
It was after they dropped you off and were heading off to their own homes that they discussed the night’s events.

“So there’s no doubt that ________ is the reincarnation of that woman, but since you don’t look exactly like Jean Luc, there’s no saying whether or not you’re his reincarnation,” Arthur muttered. Vlad and Lukas nodded in agreement. So that left the question hanging in the back of Lukas’s mind: Were you and he meant to be, or was Lukas’s resemblance to Jean Luc mere coincidence?

Happy Halloween!