EVA appears from the darkness. (Pink Trigger)

In the darkness, I could just barely see my hand in front of my face. It was an oddly spooky contrast with the mood music still blaring from my boombox. Unseen, Eva's feet hit the floor, creating the illusion of someone stepping from the air. Either she'd emerged from a hiding place, or she'd jumped and fallen. Then, in a gait entirely different from her usual, she skipped like a young girl across the floor to the center of the room. I lit a candle quickly, knowing any longer could lead to her tripping on something she'd dropped and probably injuring herself.

In the candlelight, I could see... Eva. She was no newly-minted witch yet, but she was definitely halfway there...

Eva was wearing the same pillbox hat one would ordinarily associate with the dark witch, but she was dressed in nothing more than a lavender-colored, plumed T-back thong, two pasties in the design of black roses, and lavender-colored high heels. The rest of her clothes were shuffled off in a pile in the darkness. She had an excited expression on her face, and all of her movements, even those Battler couldn't possibly see, were those of a young woman not even half her age. "I'm hooome!" she shouted obnoxiously, spreading her arms wide. "Oh? Is this the guest you told me about, Mr. Player?" Even her voice was carefully disguised in the carefree tone of a spirited teenager, as she tossed her hair casually with a lilting hand in a practiced gesture. "Does he know what he's doing here?"

"H-hey, what the heck?" I saw Battler begin to rise in his seat...

... Before the witch stepped over to him and pressed an ordinary broomstick end against his chest, then raised her heeled shoe up onto his upper leg. "Ah ah! Stay right there, human! Who do you think you're dealing with, uh... Who are you again?"

"That's what I wanna ask you!" Battler shouted. I could tell this needed to move quickly, or he'd probably think his life was in danger.

"I'm this room's owner. You know, the one your kooky grandpa keeps this place tidy for? The one he's always shouting about?"

Eva had lowered her voice to a whisper, as if sharing a secret, but I thought to myself with some amusement that she was probably scared of saying that part about Kinzo too loudly. That's the part you feel you have to keep quiet, huh...? I stayed hushed.

"I'm the VIP... I have many titles, but you know me as the Golden Witch, Beatrice!"

"What the heck?" That answer was so far beyond Battler's comprehension that it made him stop struggling. "Like... the busty blonde in that damn portrait? That Beatrice?!"

"Exactly!" Eva shouted triumphantly. "Now, Ushiromiya Battler... How did you like the entertainment I showed you before? The money, arranging that human's performance... all of that was my doing. All humans on this island bow to me-"

"That's the dumbest load of bull I've ever heard!" Immediately, Battler began reaching for his blindfold.

"Ugh, humans are so impatient!" Eva shouted, whacking his hand with her staff... Then, immediately, lowering her nearly naked body to cover her nephew with it, leaning in close to his face as she pressed the broomstick across his chest and her bare leg along his side. "All of you dumb humans bow to me, get it? Only... just tonight... I'm in an especially generous mood, Ushiromiya Battler. You see, I need a partner for a certain ritual... I need you to recognize me as a witch, and I've got just the tools to make you do it. Keep that blindfold on... I'll have you confirm your faith with your hands. Simply offer me that cash of yours, showing respect, and I'll let you decide on your own if this body matches the one from that portrait. Ready to make a deal?"

"Yeah, I don't think-!" Battler protested, squirming underneath the witch's body.

"C'mon, enough complaining! I'm saying I'm going to let you feel all over my sexy body, okay, idiot?" Eva just barely kept her voice from cracking as she attempted to feign outrage as a precocious, just-legal witch. "Why don't you just give up and do it?!"

"No way! There's no way I'm doing anything with a lunatic like you! After all, listening to you, you're obviously...!"

I winced, certain Battler was about to put a premature end to our game.