The subtle rush of excitement at the sight of the ringmaster rolled through the audience like an intake of breath.

It was met by his soft laughter as he drew his leg up then pushed to stand up, straightening his top hat before he stepped off the moon and fell to earth.

He landed neatly, without stumbling or even needing to bend his knees and bowed to the crowd as his coat floated back down into place.

With a snap of his fingers, the stars went out and a spotlight lit above him. He then turned and bowed to the second half of the audience.

"Well!" The Black Rabbit announced, setting his cane against his shoulder, "What an entrance, one really should avoid getting between elemental forces first thing in the morning."

He made a display of looking at his pocket watch before tapping his cane on his shoulder once.

The spotlight flickered and he tilted his head to the side, the light catching along his sharp jaw and illuminating his wicked smile.

"But how are we this fine midnight, ladies and gentlemen?" he asked and cheers and calls replied, making him laugh. "Excellent! Excellent! Oh you sound quite awake for this hour! How should I reward you? What type of show would entertain you most? A taste of horror? Maybe an adventure? We could go looking for secrets? I wonder what we would come across. Maybe someone can lead us into a world many of us have never seen!"

He pointed his cane to the crowd, turning as he examined them.

"Who can take us to a far-off land? Somewhere beautiful and breathing magic?"

He turned and suddenly stopped, his cane pointing somewhere near Marie-Fey.

"You," he said and a spotlight opened on the crowd then narrowed in on Miss Yumiko who sat in the row in front of Marie-Fey. She was one of Rosalia's closest friends and sat between her and Valentine and she jumped when the spotlight landed on her, one delicate hand resting on his heart, the other unconsciously settling over Valentine's – his hand turning so hers was tucked in his fingers.

The Black Rabbit smiled, settling his cane across his shoulders and lightly rocking back on his heels.

"Forgive me, Miss, I had not meant to startle you. But the magic surrounding you and your seating companions cannot be ignored. You hail for an incredible country, one drenched in history and mysticism, am I correct?"

"You're correct," Yumiko said slowly.

The Black Rabbit's smile widened and something drifted past the corner of Maire-Fey's eye, making her look around, then blink.

A petal floated past, blown on a breeze she couldn't feel, delicate and pale pink, it was soon joined by more, fluttering by and Yumiko gasped in shock, reaching out as the blossoms skipped over her skin.

The Black Rabbit laughed softly, flipped his cane and banged it down on the stage, light bursting from that point and revealing a new land.

The tent was gone.

The circus, the city... the country itself was gone.

And they were looking at a beautiful garden made of sweeping stone paths and green lawns.

Numerous ponds and rivers filtered through the gardens, some with steppingstones, some with flat bridges, some with bridges that arched so steeply, they looked like crescent moons.

Koi fish darted back and forth from the surface; flowering blossom trees rained pink down on them and, in the distance, they could see the sloping roofs of distant buildings.

Yumiko's gasp was sharp and instant as she leant forwards.

"Look!" she cried, shaking Valentine's arm. "Valentine, look! These are the gardens of my family home. Mr. Kaga!"

She spun to the seat behind her where her bodyguard, Kaga Takeshi, sat, and he gave her a rare smile before she looked back around again as the rest of the audience stared around them, marvelling at the beauty of the garden.

And then something moved in the stillness.

One of the statues that guarded one of the bridges moved and drew everyone's attention.

It was a fox, with far too many tails.

The statue turned its head, then hopped to its feet and shook itself, shaking the stone from its white fur before skipping off its plinth and shrieking at the audience, bouncing over the bridge as another statue shook itself free, a second red fox dart after the first, chasing it over the steppingstones and gambolling over the lawn, making people laugh.

Music filled the air, carried on the wind from the distant buildings and laughter chimed in the air.

Rustling in the bushes proceeded two strange, tiny creatures that almost looked human, apart from the fact that they were a foot tall, possessed one huge eye and had to upward protruding tusks sticking up from their mouths.

But they were laughing and chasing the foxes and sounded just like children as they tried to catch the foxes' tails, the foxes moving so lightly it was like they could dance on the air.

And then a monster climbed out of one of the rivers.

People shrieked in fright and Marie-Fey leant forwards, staring; Zaydan's hand tightening on her arm as if he thought she'd climb down to the stage to get a better look.

But she was quite alright without that.

"What... is that?" Valentine said, staring.

"Yes, our esteemed hostess," The Black Rabbit said and everyone looked around quickly, spotting him sat on one of the moon bridges, on the railing, legs crossed with impossible balance as he watched the creature below. "What is it?"

"It's a kappa," Yumiko replied

It looked like a blend between a turtle and a man, with green skin and sharp-beaked face. A shell was on its back and a dish of some description sat on its head, water in the bowl, its clawed, webbed fingers pulling it out onto the grass.

It looked at the audience like it could really see them, unlike the foxes and tiny humanoids and The Black Rabbit let out another soft laugh.

"Uh oh," he said, nothing hiding the delight in his voice, "This wasn't what I hoped for. These creatures aren't always the friendliest. Our Lady hostess, won't you help us?"

Yumiko looked a bit stuck. "Um... well you see—"

"Just an example?" The Black Rabbit coaxed as he pushed to his feet.

Then he suddenly bounced high into the air, the sunlight blinding people as they tried to spot him.

Yumiko and Valentine's seats suddenly separated, yanking their hands apart and The Black Rabbit landed between them, one hand around his cane, the other keeping his hat in place and he smiled down at Yumiko.

His face was obscured by a mask that covered the upper half of his face, the eyes covered with a burned glass so they were impossible to see through. And now that he was so close to them, Marie-Fey could see that it was covered in tiny black diamonds.

He leant down to Yumiko, lips scandalously close to her ear as his whispered something to her too low for anyone to hear.

Yumiko looked at him in surprise as he leant back and he smiled and held out a hand.

"Really?" she asked.

"I promise," he assured her.

She took his hand and stood, gliding with him down through the seats as they separated for them and stepped into the garden.

The kappa had been walked towards the opposite side of the audience and making the crowd restless and uncomfortable, especially the way it was watching one of the young ladies.

But it stopped when Yumiko cleared her throat.

It turned back to her and Yumiko greeted it in her own native language.

Marie-Fey's grasp of her language was limited at best, but she could gather that she was greeting the creature and asking after its wellbeing.

She then neatly folded her hands in front of her skirts and bowed low.

The kappa seemed unable to resist bowing back to her, and the water poured from the dish on its head and when Yumiko straightened, it didn't.

"And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why manners are key," The Black Rabbit said, laughing. "You will find the creature to now be stuck until the water is replaced, but not just any water will do. Our Lady Hostess, can we release this poor spirit?"

Yumiko nodded, then blinked when The Black Rabbit produced a jug from thin air and handed it out to her.

She took the jug and went to the river where the creature had appeared from, kneeling down and scooping up some of the water.

She then returned to the kappa, refilled his bowl, and just like that, it could stand again.

Yumiko spoke to it, and the creature nodded.

"And now she has this mischievous spirit in her command," The Black Rabbit said simply, rocking back on his heels, before suddenly stopping and looking around. "Oh my, someone else has decided to join us," he said, ushering Yumiko back towards the stands.

The foxes screamed and dove back towards their plinths while the little humanoids ran for the cover of the bushes as the kappa slunk back into the water.

But The Black Rabbit's attention was on a different segment of water, watching at something dark moved below the surface.

"Let's see who is attempting to join us, shall we?" he said in a stage-whisper, his voice carrying with ease.

He strode towards the water, waited a moment for Yumiko to take her seat again, then raised his cane above his head for everyone to see, then slammed it down on the water, causing a wave to explode upwards and a monster to rear from the depths.

It vaguely resembled a woman, but she had six clawed arms. Her neck was four feet long, mouth stretched wide, black spit dripping from dagger-like teeth. Her kimono was torn and her streaming, ragged black hair poured around her like it was alive as she screamed at The Black Rabbit, her bone-thin legs standing her over a foot above his 6'2" height.

"Oh my," The Black Rabbit said, jabbing her in the chest with the end of his cane and holding the monster at arm's length, his voice still clear over the screaming of the demon and the audience. "Mayhap we should bid this kingdom sayonara and find ourselves another secret."

The cherry blossoms began to fall again as he spoke, still keeping the monster back as it screamed and scrambled to decapitate him. A single blossom drifted before Marie-Fey's eyes, so close it blocked her view, and the second she could see, she blinked.

It was her turn to grip Zaydan's arm, his hand moving automatically to meet hers as calm settled around the audience.

The gardens and the monsters were gone.

They had moved on to a new, mystical, foreign land.

And Marie-Fey and Zaydan recognised it.

Because they found themselves in the large courtyard that spanned the space between the women's palace, and Marie-Fey's palace.