Kanazuki pressed down on my shoulders, urging me to sit in the middle of an elaborate magical circle made of chalk. "Sit here, Alexis-chan, and don't move. If you smudge the chalk, there may be dire consequences."

I reluctantly obeyed but couldn't resist saying, "I feel stupid."

Nekozawa had shown up at my apartment without warning, dragged me to Hunny and Kanazuki's house, and then pulled a Houdini on everyone. None of the other Black Magic members, Hunny or I could find him in the mansion. However, oddly enough, we did find Kirimi. Hunny had been sent away to take care of little Yami, and the Black Magic club had ganged up on me—stealing my shoes, stuffing me in a black and purple Renaissance-esque gown, and painting weird symbols on my face and palms in chicken blood. Now I was being told to sit in a chalk circle in the middle of an open, grassy field in the dead of the night.

From outside the circle, Shintaro rolled his emerald-green eyes. "What you're feeling is discomfort."

Kirimi kicked his shin. "Be nice to Lexi-chan."

He gave her the evil eye. "I don't do nice, kid." That said, he knelt down and placed a white taper candle on the edge of the circle.

Why the grouchy red-head was here was a mystery to me, but I guessed it had to do with Nekozawa. Although Shintaro was less than fond of me, he seemed to be willing to pluck the moon from the heavens if his President asked it of him. They were probably really close friends.

My staring at the red-head was interrupted when Kanazuki approached me with a steaming mug. Dressed in a black hooded cape and a simple black dress, the Princess of Curses looked beautiful and mysterious, almost ethereal. "Here," she said, "Drink this." She held out a cup of tea.

I accepted it gratefully and immediately took a sip. It tasted a little funky, but the warmth of the tea itself was soothing. Tonight was a pretty chilly spring night. "Thanks."

After I had sucked down the slightly odd-tasting tea, Kanazuki kindly informed me, "The tea contains a small dose of a hallucinogen. The drug is necessary to allow the spirits more control over you to purge the curse from your body. Please do not panic if you see things."

"Thanks," I repeated, but more dryly this time. Pursing my lips, I avoided eye contact as I handed her the empty mug. She quietly left the chalk circle without an apology, and I felt a little nauseous in addition to feeling stupid.

Great, just great. I had been drugged.

I almost wanted to stay cursed.

Casting curses on other people didn't seem to require much preparation or ceremony—just nasty words or a grudge—but removing curses was a whole 'nother ball of wax. In a word, it was complicated. There were conditions, certain ingredients or times of day required, and the presence of a curse-caster of equal or higher level to the original curse-caster was a must…Kanazuki had explained the processes of both to me in great detail, but my mind had been blown away. Who knew curses were so complex?

Shintaro's voice interrupted my pessimistic musings. "Preparations are finished, Princess," he told Kanazuki.

She nodded. "Now we wait."

'Wait for witching hour or for the hallucinogen to kick in?' I wondered wryly, kneeling in the cold, dewy grass. A cool breeze snuck up behind me, and I shivered. There wasn't much I could do as I waited. Moving or stretching might smudge the chalk, and itching or scratching might ruin the dried chicken blood symbols on my body. But like a good little girl, I sat there as my legs slowly lost feeling from the knees down and went numb.

To occupy the time, I stared at the cluster of hooded black-robed figures grouped together outside of the circle and they stared back. Kanazuki, Shintaro, Kirimi, Kadomatsu, Kuretake and four others…All nine of them—eight tall and one small. They looked like they had been summoned out of The Lord of the Rings—the Ringwraiths, the Nine.

'Nine there were…'

My eyes widened slightly as I continued to stare at them. Nine—three times three. Three was a magical number, but nine was more powerful, supposedly symbolizing divine perfection. Standing in the moonlight, they made divine robed statues. Suddenly noting the brightness of the moon, I tilted back my head and squinted at the full moon.

A full moon, nine robed figures, the magical circle, a sacrificed chicken, me pained in its blood, and the chains…My mouth tilted down into a frown and my brow furrowed.

When had those gotten there?

Looking down, I stared at the manacles snapped around my wrists. The metal seemed to glow in the moonlight, and something was branded onto the backs of the manacles—the insignia of a cat.

Bereznoff, I realized.

Curious, I tried to lift my arm but found it wouldn't budge. The metal shackle was too heavy, and there were more—on my ankles and around my neck. They were all so heavy, especially the neck manacle. It had at least a dozen separate chains that linked from the metal collar to each of the lit white taper candles. As time crept by, the metal felt heavier and heavier as if gravity was pulling extra hard on the manacles chaining me to the field. It was so difficult to sit up straight…so much effort.

Was this the true weight of the Nekozawa ancestry?

A voice—a female voice—distracted me. "Hold on, Alexis-chan. Don't give in." Kanazuki-chan? I swear I heard her chanting in the background but the other voices—a chorus—were starting to drown out her voice. Were these the voices of the dead ancestors? I focused on them.

"—per essere emesso. Nessuno può emendarsi dal peccato che scorre nelle vene," they sang in a beautiful foreign language. Their voices were beautiful but their tone was condemning. What were they saying? Those lofty, beautiful voices with an undertone of anger… "Uminari no shirabe ni kurokumo wa sora e tusdou. Arashi wo yobu kaze wa takaraka ni."

I winced as the heavy manacles momentarily flared with a supernatural heat before cooling.

Kanazuki and the otherworldly voices continued chanting in their foreign tongues, battling each other I guessed.

Sometimes I wanted to clamp my hands over my ears. At times the ghostly voices were raised, loud wailing in my ears. Other times Kanazki's calm, steady voice dominated. Between the chanting and the occasional powerful bursts of icy wind, it was a pretty frightening and awe-inspiring scene to watch and listen to. I briefly wondered if the other Black Magic Club members could see what was happening. That train of thought was interrupted as the manacles began to glow. By glow, I mean more brightly than they were before but they weren't hot. Just aglow. The voices of Nekozawa's ancestors slowly faded away as Kanazuki's voice grew stronger; little cracks and chinks formed on the white-hot shackles and chains. To my silent amazement, they began to dissolve into liquid light and dripped upward, vanishing.

Looking up, I made eye contact with Kanazuki, who had stopped chanting.

"It is finished," we both stated in sync at the same time using the same tone.

I blinked, breaking the connection we had and looked down at my wrists again. The shackles and chains were really gone. Without them weighing me down, I felt incredibly light, so light that I was afraid that if I stood up too quickly, the sky would suck me up into space. I smiled, feeling a rush of adrenaline and fear. Gravity had no power over me.

"Soul snatcher." I glanced at Shintaro. "What are you doing?"

I blinked. What was I doing?

Looking down, I found that I was standing and couldn't remember standing up.

Had I floated to my feet?

It was possible. I still felt so weightless that if I jumped, I could fly if I wanted. This feeling—it was wonderful. I wanted to make the most of it before it went away, and I knew it would. Gravity didn't like having no power over me. It would fight for that power, but in the meantime, I was free!

In the distance, I could hear a faint but sweet-sounding violin beckoning.

Lifting the hem of the old-fashioned purple and black dress from the grass, I delicately ran through the circle on my tiptoes. So much fun avoiding the chalk! With a grin, I leapt over a candlestick like Jack the nimble and quick, but I didn't stop there. I kept running.

Over my shoulder, I called out, "I'm going to dance among the stars!"

I missed the looks the Black Magic Club members exchanged.

AN: Since it was brought to my attention earlier that I hadn't included the removal of the curse, I decided to make it an omake because it seemed like fun and because I've been reading too many Labyrinth fanfics. This takes place in the spring, not long after winter but before Haruhi and Tamaki's wedding.

Disclaimer: Katayoku no Tori (One-Winged Bird) from Umineko no Naku Koro Ni was the song the Nekozawa ancestors sang (it's been stuck in my head); Lord of the Rings and the Nazgul are not owned by me; the whole chains melting thing was taken from Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (the movie); finally, the violin song Alexis is hearing in her head is Lindsey Stirling's Crystallize (which has also been stuck in my head).