“Oh, puh-lease,” Luna rolled her eyes, “gimme a freakin’ break!” she snarled, squeezing Jackie’s neck tighter. “Sumire promised that I’d be the hero when I destroyed Kuro and her familiars! But no one even knows who I am! And the ones who do…” Luna glanced over to Katherine and Noh who were still struggling to push the steamroller off their bodies, “They despise me. …If I can’t earn the respect of the people as a hero,” Luna continued, “I have no choice but to demand their respect as a ‘villain’!”
Suddenly, a heavily muscled arm reached out from the other side of the border and grabbed the back of Jackie’s t-shirt. Luna squinted at the man standing on Earth’s side of the line as Jackie glanced over her shoulder to do the same. Luna shot a glance towards Katherine and Noh.
“Who is that?!” she demanded.
Katherine and Noh looked at each other, then back at Luna.
“No clue,” Noh shrugged underneath the steam-powered road roller.
Jackie let out a grunt as the arm pulled her across the borderline along with Luna. The two girls tumbled and fell to the dusty ground of the Texan back road, before staring up at the man who had pulled them into Earth’s side of the border. A muscular yet slightly-overweight man with a tall build holding a cellphone to his ear. He stared down at the women in shock.
“W-Where’d you come from?” he asked.
Jackie looked back to the borderline, but all she could see on front of her was a dirt path which seemed to go on for miles.
“Where is it?!” Luna cried, placing her hands in front of her face, trying to find the entrance back in through the “invisible wall” which was sitting on the borderline, as her hands and feet started to fade, like a time-traveler who had accidentally undone their own conception. “Where is Phantasia?!” she shrieked.
“Look homeward, angel,” Jackie winked before Luna disappeared into nothingness, leaving nothing but Jackie’s copy of Two Beings, Or Not Two Beings behind.
“Huh? O-Oh, yeah. Yeah!” the man said into his phone. “Uh… Are you Jackie?”
Jackie stared back to the confused-looking man, having picked up her book. “Uh, y-yes,” Jackie confirmed. “How did you know where I was… or who I am?” she asked.
“Oh!” the man beamed, lifting the cell away from his ear and handing it to Jackie, “My daughter told me to come here and sorta reach my hand over this line in the dirt, and you just kinda… popped out?”
Jackie stared down at the cellphone’s screen. Unknown Number.
“H-Hello?” Jackie said, raising the phone to her right ear, “W-Who is this?”
“Jackie!” Maryanne’s voice happily screamed through the phone’s speakers. “It’s Mary-Sue! Is Luna gone?”
“Yeah,” Jackie nodded.
“I knew it!” Maryanne boasted, “I knew kinkinds couldn’t exist anymore once their summoners left Phantasia!”
“S-So you knew Miss Shakespeare would…” Jackie mumbled, “You knew she’d die?”
“She’s not dead!” Maryanne snorted over the phone, “If I ever go back to Phantasia I can try to summon her again! Simple!”
“Go back, huh?” Jackie asked, raising her other hand to her mouth in contemplation.
“Hey,” Maryanne’s voice said, “can you pass me back over to my dad? I… need to tell him about Chloe.”
Jackie slowly lifted the phone from her ear and handed it to the man she didn’t recognize.
“You’re Ms. Webber’s father, right?” she asked.
Paul nodded, gently taking the cellphone from Jackie and raising it to his ear.
Jackie turned back to look at the line in the dirt road, feeling around the “wall” in thin air until she felt her arm pushing through. She took a deep breath. “Here goes…” she thought.
With Luna gone, Katherine, Noh and Kitty’s powers had returned and the werewolf was able to throw the road roller off their bodies in the beast form granted by Kitty’s full Moon.
“Kat, Noh!” a voice called out.
Katherine and Noh stared at the girl who had just crossed the border.
“JACKIE!” the simultaneously yelled with delight.
“We saw Luna disappearing from in here,” Noh smiled. “We did it… You did it.”
“I… didn’t really do anything,” Jackie sheepishly admitted.
“So why’d you come back?” Katherine asked.
“I didn’t,” Jackie said, “I’m just here to say ‘goodbye’.”
“Ah,” Katherine sighed, walking over to Jackie and giving her a big hug, “parting is such sweet sorrow,” she said through her tears.
“We don’t have to part,” Jackie suggested, “Katherine, why not come back to Earth with me? I’m sure Sarah wouldn’t mind sharing a bed with Jun or something until you found a place to stay!”
“It’s probably best that Katherine stays here,” the French maid said, “someone has to look after Kitty,” she paused. “Plus someone needs to answer for the destruction caused by Miss Sumire and Kuro’s feud,” Katherine explained.
“Kat, Noh,” Jackie solemnly nodded, “I’m sorry for everything that happened… And I’ll really miss both of you.”
“It’s totally fine,” Noh smiled, “and I’ll miss ya too! Come visit us sometimes, ‘k?”
Jackie chuckled. “We’ll see…” she smiled, turning around and looking at the borderline. “It’s been fun. I mean… It hasn’t all been fun, but…”
Katherine and Noh raised their eyebrows and smiled cheekily.
“Ok, so maybe it wasn’t fun whatsoever, but… You know what I mean,” Jackie blushed, as she walked back over the border and back into the human realm.
Katherine and Noh looked at one another.
“Go on, then,” Noh grinned, “leave taking care of things to me. You’re one of those kinkind things too, right? So you came from the human realm?”
Katherine nodded.
“I’ll tell Kitty what happened. Just go! Have fun!” the wolfman beamed.
Katherine turned to the border and walked in its direction, before breaking into a sprint and then a run. As the nekomata maid crossed the line, her form slowly shifted into that of a young man with long cream-colored hair, a red t-shirt, black flame-printed shorts and a black and red baseball cap.
“Jackie,” Jun called out, “wait for me!”
August the twenty-second, 2021 (exactly one month after the day Jackie first awoke in Phantasia)…
Steamers and decorations littered Jackie and Sarah’s apartment room, the same ones which had been waiting for Jackie when she returned from Phantasia the month prior.
“Happy birthday to you,” Jackie and Sarah sung, “happy birthday to you!”
“Oh, come on,” Jun mumbled, “you’re making me blush!”
“Happy birthday, dear Jun! Happy birthday to you!” the twins finished.
“Ok, now three cheers for Jun!” Sarah giggled.
“That really won’t be necessary…” Jun blushed, “C-Can I just unwrap my presents, now?”
“Knock yourself out!” Jackie shrugged, handing Jun a rectangular cuboid parcel.
Jun quickly opened the package and stared down at the book which had been wrapped up.
“Hmm,” he lifted an eyebrow. “What’s this?”
“It’s Mary-Sue’s latest novel!” Jackie beamed, “It’s not even out in the UK yet, but she sent over a copy for us!”
“Aha,” Jun smiled, “I’ll have to call her to say ‘thanks’, then!”
“Are you kidding?!” Sarah shrieked, “She’s in America! You’ll send our phone bill crashing through the roof! Go use a pay phone or something!”
“A phone box?” the man asked, “Like the ones that travel through time and space?”
Jackie and Sarah gave each other a quick glance.
“No,” they both said together.
“Why not?” Jun groaned, “I think that’s a great idea!”
“Just eat your birthday cake, Jun,” Jackie sighed.
Meanwhile in Phantasia, Noh barged into Kitty’s bedroom and ripped the blanket off her futon.
“Morning, already?” Kitty groaned, rubbing her eyes while wearing her light purple pajamas.
“Rise and shine,” Noh grinned, “We’ve got lots to do today!”
“Like what?” Kitty asked, standing up and walking to the bathroom to brush her teeth.
“Are you kidding?!” Noh rhetorically asked, “There’s another full Moon tonight! We gotta celebrate!”
“But I can just use my power to make the Moon full anytime you want…” Kitty groaned.
“Where’s the fun in that?!” Noh snorted. “Now c’mon! Hurry up and brush your teeth and get dressed, there’s no time to waste!”
As Kitty closed the bathroom door behind her, Noh turned around and looked over the main room melancholically. He’d moved in with Kitty on the twenty-fourth of July, the same day that Rusalka, Excalibur, Kabuki, Kuro, Sumire and Luna had died. The same day that Kabuki confessed to him. The same day that Jackie and Katherine left Phantasia. He let out a deep sigh and leaned against the wall next to the main room’s bookshelf, resting his hand on the wall so as not to fall over. With his other hand, he withdrew a tome from the bookshelf to occupy the time while Kitty got ready. Two Beings, Or Not Two Beings by M.S. Webber. Noh noticed something sticking out of the book’s pages. He opened the book to the pages that the makeshift bookmark was wedged between. A note from Jackie. Noh wondered when she had found the time to write it. He looked over the note and smiled.
“Jackie…” he sighed.
Back on Earth, Maryanne stood next to her father at the borderline between the human realm and Phantasia.
“Come on, Dad, trust me,” the girl cheerily said, “you’ll love it!”
“You’re really saying that this path leads to another dimension?” Paul Webber asked, “And this is where you and Chloe disappeared to for all those years?”
Maryanne nodded, grabbing her parent’s hand and walking across the line. Within seconds Maryanne-Susan Webber and Paul Webber were standing next to the now-abandoned border control station on the outskirts of Phantasia. Paul watched as his daughter’s clothes and body changed before his very eyes.
“Y-You’re a witch?!” Paul stammered with a startled expression.
“Hm? Why, yes I am,” his now unrecognizable daughter replied. “Now then… Who might you be?”
As night fell over the United Kingdom, Jackie and Jun stared up at the full Moon.
“Do you think Noh’s holding another party tonight?” Jackie asked, turning to Jun.
“Hmm?” Jun said, still looking at the sturgeon Moon, “Phantasia’s in America, right? Is it a full Moon over there tonight?”
“Full Moons happen on the same night worldwide,” Jackie sighed.
“Really?” Jun asked.
“Yes,” Jackie replied.
“Wait, so do you think Phantasia has the same Moon as Earth?” Jun asked. “Two Moons, or not two Moons?”
Jackie stared off in a random direction, as if looking at an imaginary fourth wall. “This is getting ridiculous now,” the young woman sighed. After a while, Jackie turned back to look at the Moon. “Hey, Jun,” she asked, breaking the silence, “have you found somewhere to live yet?”
“Nope,” the man shrugged.
“Well…” Jackie smiled, “I talked to the landlord…”
Jun looked over to Jackie.
“He said there’s still a few free rooms in the apartment, so…”
Jun wrapped his arms tightly around Jackie. “Thank you!” he cried tears of happiness.
“Happy birthday, Jun,” Jackie nodded, returning his hug. “…Let’s go back home, it’s getting cold.”
That night, Jackie found herself in a white void. A dream? A nightmare? Jackie looked around to find Sumire Shakespeare, Noh Hiraoka, Kitty Genet and Paul Webber looking back at her.
“Am I dreaming?” the confused Londoner asked.
“Of course not!” Sumire chuckled.
“There’s no bad guys here, anymore!” Kitty giggled, “So come on, lighten up would ya?”
“Yeah, the party’s just getting started!” Noh beckoned.
“I shouldn’t…” Jackie began.
“Suit yourself,” Sumire interrupted, pointing in Jackie’s direction as a purple vortex appeared within inches of her face, “I guess we’ll just have fun without you?” she teased from the other side of the vortex. “…Although, since there’s no threat anymore, I could take you back home, whenever you want…?”
Jackie rolled her eyes playfully, leaping into the vortex and landing face-first in a shallow part of Phantasia’s forest lake. Sumire loomed over the girl, patting down her short witch dress to avoid giving Jackie an accidental glimpse underneath, and smiled.
“Welcome back to Phantasia,” she winked.
THE END?
