Will heard the clock begin its chime. Nine, ten, eleven. One more hour to midnight. One more hour to the Witch's revival.

'It's ending soon,' The Blue Witch said. 'The game is coming to a close.'

'Yeah,' Will murmured, not daring to look her in the face.

'So you'll have to give your answer soon.'

'I will.'

'Is this story...a fantasy?' he held out her left hand. 'Or is it...a mystery?' she stretched out her other hand.

Will turned his eyes back to the game, leaving her hanging.

'Just curious, Mr Will...what do you think?'

'Think of what?'

'This game. Is it a fantasy or a mystery?'

'I haven't decided.'

'But you must believe one viewpoint more strongly than the other, right?'

'They're both the same.'

'They can't be the same. Do you think this is a fantasy, or a mystery?'

'A mystery,' Will swallowed, awaiting her reaction.

'So you'll kill me.'

'I won't.'

'You'll have to kill me if you choose mystery. But in fantasy, you won't have to kill anything.'

'Yes you will,' Will said, finally meeting her eyes. 'You'll have to kill your whole world.'

'And create a new one.'

'A shallow world.'

'That's only if you see it that way.'

'I see it that way.'

'So you'll kill me?'

'I don't know,' Will said.

'I like fairy tales,' The Blue witch said, and, for a moment, she looked like a child again. 'I had this one, where some Prince Charming would swoop down from the sky and we'd just have tea parties forever in the Golden Land.'

'I'm not your Prince Charming.'

'I know, but still, I've been so horribly lonely. I still write letters to that person on Rokkenjima, and the friend, but that's only two people. I only have two people to have a tea party with. Wouldn't it be nicer to have ten, or twenty?'

'Have your own tea party if you want,' Will said, 'But don't force others to come.'

The hidden door creaked into life, twisting outwards and withdrawing into a hidden panel, revealing a set of stairs behind it. Battler stared uncertainly at the pit below him. He was drenched in partially in sweat, and partially in the rain he had to fight through to get here. He couldn't back out now.

He crept down the steps, and came to another door. He grasped the doorknob. It was cold to the touch, and didn't move easily. Slowly, he worked it from side to side until the door finally swung open.

The first thing he saw was the Blue Witch. Then another three copies of her joined in. The entire room, walls and ceiling, were all swarming with portraits, all identical, all bearing her blue hair and gentle smile. Even the floor had a scattering of pictures about the ground. Stepping into the room, Battler felt like a million pairs of eyes were watching him.

And that was it. The Blue Witch was everywhere, and there was no other purpose to the room. This was simply a shrine to the master to Rokkenjima, the Blue Witch, and nothing else.

The portraits all looked brand new. The doorknob outside, although as rickety as all old doors were, didn't have a smidgen of dust on it. In fact, it had been covered with fingerprints. Someone had been coming here for a long time, frequently, every week or even every day.

Someone had come here every day, simply looked at the portraits, locked eyes with the smiling Blue Witch, and repeated the cycle all over again. Someone had treasured the Blue Witch's smile to such an extent that they were willing to come back here every day just to get even a glimpse of it.

Battler felt sick.

The first person Rudolf saw outside was Gohda. He was lying in the arbor, his body bent backwards, a bullet hole planted above his wide, frozen eyes. Nanjo was a few meters away from him, his arms thrown out. a similar wound on his back. The two of them looked like they had been running from something as fast as their legs could carry them, but of course it was all useless. The killer had got them in the end.

Rudolf didn't linger any longer than he had to. He hadn't heard a peep from the gunman when he had staggered out of the guesthouse, but he wasn't about to take any chances. The pain from his shoulder was pulsing waves into his brain, but he kept going, feeling the chill of the rain mixing in with his blood. If Nanjo and Gohda were dead, it meant that the rest of the group wasn't safe either.

Rudolf thought of Battler. He thought of Krauss, and he thought of Rosa.

The mansion's door was open. He dragged himself inside, and leaned on the door to close it. The portrait rose out of the darkness to greet him, as usual.

Rudolf stared at the portrait. It was funny, how just twelve hours ago he had felt comforted at that innocent smile that was the Blue Witch's trademark. Now, he just wanted to tear her face into pieces.

Something was burning. He hadn't noticed it before, because of the pain invading his mind, but now the stench hit him like a slap. A burning stench like this could only come from one place - the boiler room. Rudolf hauled himself off the door, redoubled his grip on his broken shoulder, and began to walk.

The stench got stronger and stronger as Rudolf climbed deeper into the basement. The boiler room was at the end of the hallway, the door closed. Rudolf opened it, and the heat and smoke slammed into his face.

The boiler was alight with dancing flames, burning something charred and broken. The smell was even more stronger here. Choking, Rudolf threw himself forwards and shut the boiler off, rendering the air breathable again. He took a closer look at the thing in the boiler.

It was a human body. Rudolf automatically slid his eyes down to his feet, and they yielded what he had feared - six toes. This body was the corpse of Kinzo.

'Fucking old man,' Rudolf spat, for no apparent reason, but then saw a room in the corner. He vaguely remembered this ancient room, where Rosa had once hid and nearly starved to death had not Krauss found her a long long time ago. There was something sticking out of the keyhole. Rudolf hobbled over to investigate.

It was the broken half of a fire poker, jammed into the keyhole as if someone was trying to force it open. Rudolf grasped the doorknob, and he could not turn it. He threw himself against the door, but it didn't budge. Whoever had tried to break this door open, hadn't opened it.

There was a small window near the ceiling, looking into the room. It had been smashed to bits, broken pieces of glass lying on the ledge. Rudolf took a look through it.

It was dark, but the the dim light illuminated the room somewhat. Rosa was lying slumped against the wall, her rifle lying in her hands. Krauss was lying on the floor, his hands folded almost in acceptance. Neither of them were moving.

'Big Bro!' Rudolf whispered, as if he was afraid of waking them up. 'Little Sis! You okay?'

They didn't move. Rudolf tried to search their bodies for wounds, but it was too dark.

'Rosa! Krauss! Answer me, you fuckheads! Are you okay?'

They didn't answer.

Rudolf backed away from the window, the pain from his shoulder numbing. His throat itched for a cigarette, but he had dropped the lighter during his escape.

'Fuckheads,' he whispered.

Now that there was no one to watch him, Rudolf allowed a few solitary tears to slip down his cheek. He walked as he cried, an unseen force driving him up the stairs and back into the main hall. He just had to keep moving. He had to stay alive.

He gave out a few steps away from the stairs. It wasn't the pain, just tiredness. His muscles simply fell slack and he crashed against the banister, blood flowing freely down his shirt. He stared at the Blue Witch in the portrait.

Someone had already fired a slug at her face, ruining her hair, but her mischievous smile remained. Rudolf stretched his hand out, trying to tear her smile down from the wall, but he was too far away. His hand dropped to his side.

Rosa and Krauss were dead. Gohda and Nanjo were dead. Even probably Battler, too. The main hall was empty, the only thing he could hear the rain. No one else was left. Everyone except him and the culprit was dead.

The Blue Witch's gaze burned into his fading vision. He couldn't tear his eyes from her even if he tried. The Blue Witch, the mastermind behind the murders, the harbinger of the destruction and death that had torn this island apart, was staring into his very soul. As Rudolf stared, her magnificence seemed to grow, burning brighter and brighter with each passing second, her angelic aura sprouting out from her dress.

She stepped out of the portrait.

Rudolf knew he was hallucinating. The pain had finally got through to him, he was finally going to bleed out in front of the staircase, and he was hallucinating. but the Blue Witch was there, in front of him, in the flesh, as clearly as he had ever seen her. With one key difference. She wasn't smiling.

she stared at him, resplendent in the gloom, waiting for him to speak.

'You aren't real,' Rudolf muttered, his voice dry.

'But I'm standing in front of you.'

'I'm just seeing things.'

'Why do you believe that?' the Blue Witch said. 'Why do you believe that and not me?'

'Magic and all that shit doesn't exist,' Rudolf said. 'If it did, I'd be swimming in happyland right now, but this ain't happyland. This is real life, and I'm not going to have some bitch like you fuck it up.'

She winced at the word bitch, but otherwise kept up her stony gaze. 'I'll grant any wish for you.'

'I don't want any wish,' Rudolf said. 'I don't want thin wishes granted for me. I'd like nice, fat, thick ones, if you know what I'm saying.'

'So you don't believe?'

'Fuck no.'

'Then can you explain the deaths?'

'Maybe,' Rudolf grinned, and a jacket started to form around the edges of his shirt. 'Try me.'

'The First Twilight. The six victims locked in the two closed rooms sealed by a chain.'

'Earth to Earth,' Rudolf said, putting on the jacket. 'Even the dead are permitted to seal their own rooms.'

'Second Twilight. The two mothers leave the safety of the parlor and die in the rain.'

'Earth to Earth. Illiusions to Illusions,' Rudolf rubbed at his hair, which was turning a shade of brown. 'By right, no illusions should have tarnished their final moments.'

'Fourth Twilight. The frightened old maid, floating up several floors to meet her inevitable fate.'

'Illusions to Illusions,' Rudolf put on his necklace, a gold cross hanging on a chain. 'The despair of the dead can only be heard through illusions.'

'Fifth Twilight. The head servant perishes in a perfectly sealed room.'

'Illusions to Illusions. As a great man once said, what you eliminate the impossible, only the possible remains.'

'Sixth Twilight. The tired old man, vanishing from his study to his eternal rest at last.'

'Earth to Earth. Illusions to Illusions. By right, no illusions should have tarnished his final moments.'

'Seventh and Eighth Twilights. Brother and sister descend into eternal sleep together in their impenetrable tomb.'

'Earth to Earth. Even a sealed room can be a double-edged sword.'

'Ninth Twilight. The Witch shall revive and none shall be left alive.'

A black sword thudded at Rudolf's feet. He grabbed it, and stood up tall.

'Illusions to Illusions,' Will said. 'The dreams of an ephemeral soul are, in the end, simply illusions.'

'Are you ready, Mr Wright?' The Blue Witch said.

'Yeah. I'll explain all of the mysteries. I'll return all of you to the Earth.'

'So you're going to kill me, then,' the Blue Witch hung her head. 'You've made your decision.'

'Yeah,' Will said, swinging the sword up. 'Let's begin.'