“Y’know,” Luna said, smiling and lifting her head to face Kuro, “you’re such a drama queen, Lady Kuro!” she taunted, “I mean, talk about ‘overacting’!”

Kuro folded her arms in disgust. “And what doth thee knoweth about acting, cur?”

“Look,” Luna shrugged, tossing Jackie’s book to a side, “all I’m saying is that maybe Miss Shakespeare isn’t the only one to blame for your rejection from theater school… Chloe Webber.”

Kuro opened a black hole to her side and reached her arm inside, opening another portal by Luna’s face as her arm reemerged from it. Kuro’s teleported hand grabbed Luna by the throat. “I would’ve long since graduated from TAA if it wasn’t for my sister!” the witch yelled.

“So,” Luna coughed, “it’s true then?” she gagged.

“How dare you?!” Kuro growled, “How did you know that I was Chloe Webber?!” she demanded.

“The play’s the thing,” Luna smirked, grabbing Kuro’s hand from around her neck and prying the witch’s fingers off one by one, “wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the witch.”

Kuro withdrew her arm back through the wormhole as she closed both portals. “Well, you got me,” the witch smiled, opening a portal center stage and depositing a table, two chairs, two wine glasses and a bottle of champagne, “Care for a drink, Miss Wolfe?”

“Uh-huh?” Luna scoffed, raising an eyebrow and heading cautiously towards the stage. “Just so long as you agree to keep talking like a normal person.”

“Naturally,” Kuro smiled, “you saw through my act, so my performance has come to a close for the time being.”

“Kabuki,” Noh shouted over the gap in the bridge, “what are you doing here?!”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Kabuki snapped back, “I’m helping Lady Kuro with exacting her revenge and defeating Luna Wolfe!”

“I know that,” Noh groaned, “but what I mean is ‘Why?’ Why are you doing this?!”

“Luna Wolfe,” the Cyclops growled, “she ruined everything I love!”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Noh cried, “Luna’s fighting for everything we hold dear! The parties, Phantasia, the hamlet…!”

“I don’t care about any of that crap!” Kabuki yelled back, tears welling up at the bottom of his eye, “She took from me the one thing I loved most of all!” Kabuki blushed, reaching into his yukata and pulling out his mask to hide his face.

The werewolf stared at Kabuki with a puzzled expression. “What did she take from you?” he asked.

“You…” Kabuki’s voice cracked as teardrops fell from beneath his mask. “But you betrayed me, just like Jackie…”

“What are you talking about?” Noh asked, stepping closer and staring down to the inner ward below.

“Why didn’t I see it sooner?!” Kabuki continued to ramble, “It’s Lady Kuro… It’s always been Lady Kuro… She’s the only one who ever treated me with respect!”

Kabuki removed his mask, throwing it into the abyss below, thus revealing that his eye was glowing red. Noh jumped back as Kabuki fired a powerful laser from his eye in the wolfman’s direction.

“Kabuki, you’re not making any sense!” Noh yelped as the laser beam grazed one of his big toes. “Please…” he begged, “tell me how you can possibly trust Kuro more than you trust me or Jackie?!”

“It started when I first met Lady Kuro…” Kabuki explained, “When she first spirited me away to Phantasia…” He paused. “But before that, I should probably tell you a bit about my life from before entering Phantasia. From back when I lived in the human realm…

I was just an ordinary guy. Joutarou Sugimori. Age 16. The day that Lady Kuro spirited me away was the worst day of my life. My parents had just found out about my boyfriend and they didn’t approve of our relationship. They said it was because it would distract me from my studies although I suspect that was only a small part of the reason… I wanted to run away. Anywhere else but home. I packed my things and snuck away to the nearest bus stop. That’s where I saw her. Chloe Webber. That is – or rather, ‘that was’ – Kuro’s real name. She emerged from a dark void within the bus stop, her form completely changing from the witch you probably saw earlier at the party. In truth, she and I are both kinkind. Deep down…”

Kabuki’s body flickered as his form changed to that of a bearded, black-haired, two-eyed man.

“…We’re actually human beings. Chloe and I. We had both been betrayed by our own respective families. When she stepped out of that portal to another world… when her form completely shifted before my eyes… I was convinced she was an evil spirit of some kind. A youkai perhaps? But she didn’t attack me. She didn’t threaten my very existence. Instead, she offered me her hand. ‘You’ve been abandoned too?’ she asked me. I told her about my parents and how I planned to run away. She didn’t interrupt. She didn’t judge. She listened. She smiled. She placed her hand comfortingly on my shoulder. After I finished recounting my story, Chloe told me about her own past. About Phantasia. About how she wanted my help to take revenge on her sister. She asked me if I’d help her take her vengeance. I agreed without second thought and she told me to follow her into the void. I did as she asked. ‘No matter where I end up, it’s better than here.’ That’s what I thought to myself at the time. And for a while, Phantasia really was better than Earth… at-least for a few hours anyway. Kuro asked me to become her familiar. Her first familiar. I eagerly agreed. I felt like I owed my life to her for rescuing me from my old life. But that all changed when she told me about kinkind. How she wanted me to possibly sacrifice my own being to become Kabuki. How I would possibly have to die in battle against her sister. Against Sumire Shakespeare. I ran away. I betrayed Lady Kuro. That’s when Vladimir found me all alone. Confused. Trapped in Phantasia with no way back to Japan. That’s when he told me he knew someone who could take me home. And so… He introduced me to Sumire Shakespeare. Just from her aura, I could already tell, even back then… Sumire Shakespeare… was and still is the single evilest being in all Phantasia. I told them I didn’t want to go back home. They agreed to let me stay in Phantasia. They agreed to find me a home in Old King Hamlet… on one condition. Either Vladimir or Shakespeare would take me on as their familiar and teach me how to channel Kabuki. I considered returning to Lady Kuro and asking her for forgiveness, but I foolishly decided Vladimir was the most favorable of the three witches. But that doesn’t matter now! Even after running away and betraying Lady Kuro’s trust, she still came back for me! She offered me a chance at redemption! A chance to get rid of Jackie and Luna! A chance to take my beloved… by force!”