Phantasma
by Kaylie Smith
Contents
Chapter 36
Overview
Ophelia and Blackwell's growing closeness is interrupted when Jasper returns with costly information about her parents' past. Jasper reveals that Tessie and Ophelia's father fell in love inside Phantasma, were cursed because of it, and that Tessie later used a Devil's bargain to erase her husband's memory so she could escape him.
The truth reframes Ophelia's family history and exposes a terrifying parallel between her parents' doomed relationship and her bond with Blackwell. Shaken by that possibility and by her mother's secrecy, Ophelia flees and accidentally summons the Whispering Gate again, sending the story into another dangerous turn.
Summary
Ophelia and Blackwell give in to their renewed attraction and share an intensely intimate moment in her room. The scene shifts abruptly when Jasper appears at the foot of the bed with Poe in his arms, deliberately interrupting them. Blackwell immediately clothes them both with magic and reveals that Jasper has returned early because he found information about Ophelia's parents.
Jasper explains that Blackwell paid dearly for that information, trading away three years of his memories. Even after learning the cost, Ophelia chooses to hear the truth, and the three move to the drinking parlor. There, Jasper begins with the most unsettling revelation: Tessie and Ophelia's father fell in love during their time in Phantasma, and Ophelia herself was conceived there.
Because love inside Phantasma is tied to the punishment surrounding its creator, Jasper says Ophelia's parents were cursed. According to the rumor he shares, Tessie grew colder and more apathetic over time while Ophelia's father became increasingly obsessive. After they forfeited the competition, Tessie later made a bargain with a Devil in New Orleans named Andrea to make Ophelia's father forget that she, Ophelia, and their unborn second child existed so Tessie could leave him; however, the curse gradually corroded that magic, allowing Ophelia's father to remember again. Blackwell connects this account to what he knew of Ophelia's father in Phantasma, including that he once claimed he was trying to win his wife back.
The revelations shake Ophelia badly. As she questions Blackwell, she learns he never noticed obvious signs in her father of the strange traits she associates with herself, and that her father spoke of his wife as though Tessie had died. Overwhelmed, Ophelia blames her mother for hiding the truth and for setting in motion the debt and dangers that brought Ophelia into Phantasma; in her panic, she blurts out that she and Blackwell may be repeating her parents' history. Blackwell orders Jasper to leave, but before he can calm her, Ophelia bolts from the room and accidentally steps into the Whispering Gate again, falling as the chapter ends.
Who Appears
- Ophelia GrimmBecomes intimate with Blackwell, hears the truth about her parents, panics, and accidentally summons the Whispering Gate.
- BlackwellShares a tender moment with Ophelia, trades three years of memories for answers, and tries to steady her.
- JasperDevil who interrupts the couple and reveals the cursed history of Ophelia's parents.
- Tessie GrimmOphelia's mother, revealed to have loved within Phantasma, been cursed, and bargained to escape her husband.
- Ophelia's fatherFormer Phantasma competitor and Blackwell's master, cursed into obsession and later driven to recover Tessie.
- AndreaDevil in New Orleans whose bargain erased Ophelia's father's memories until the curse weakened it.
- PoeJasper's cat, present during the interruption and drinking-parlor conversation.