After the opening credits, Victorique explains to Kujo that she had been transferred here as bait to trap her mother, Cordelia Gallo. We learn from Victorique that she has only seen Cordelia once in her life, when she was a little girl. From the flashback, it looks like Victorique was severely neglected as a child. (Which was hinted at previously, but it’s even more apparent in this scene.) Cordelia gives her a locket, and promises that she will always help Victorique however she can. Victorique share a significantly intimate moment, but the sweet moment is interrupted by Victorique’s stomach which has a few complaints to register concerning a lack of food.
We switch to Brian Roscoe who is conferring with a priest claiming that the magic presented at Phantasmagoria is real. Brian Roscoe is diplomatic in the exact way of someone who thinks that the person he is speaking to is full of beans. Brian heads off, and the priest tells a nun to keep an eye on him. We also learn that the priest does not like Jupiter Roget very much. (We can safely say that the priest and the nun are members of the Ministry of the Occult.)
Kujo and Victorique get ready to make tracks when they come across a “magic lantern,” a very large projector. At the same time, Kujo spots a man that he met on the train. He questions the man, who seems faintly guilty and avoidant at first. Victorique is somewhat hostile toward him.
A little while later, they’re walking through the fair, where Victorique explains how every magic trick is accomplished. Kujo is very impressed by Victorique’s knowledge. His musings are interrupted by the elderly gentleman from the train, who states that Kujo should know at least as much about the magic being performed, since he was invited to the convention. The conversation takes a trip into the surreal when an innocent question about the old man’s daughter leads to an accusation that Kujo had done something to his daughter. Deeply confused, Kujo makes excuses and runs.
The next scene involves two old women who are introduced by the priest from earlier as the last scions of a family with supernatural powers. It’s a “tied up yet switched places in a cabinet” trick. The priest launches into a spiel about the ancient powers of magic. A member of the crowd scoffs openly at the spiel and ends up volunteering to take part in the magic trick. This gets him, and one of the little old ladies killed. Then, a hallucinogenic drug is pumped into the tent. Kujo and Victorique make a break for it, but the smoke is spreading.
Kujo catches sight of Brian Roscoe in one of the upper floors of the building and takes off after him. Victorique tries to call him back, but Kujo is not listening. She drops to the ground and then becomes aware that someone is standing next to her. She looks up and sees Brian Roscoe. (So, who was the guy in the upper story window?)
Meanwhile, Kujo is running off looking for Brian Roscoe. He does not find Brian. Instead, he finds Cordelia Gallo. Gallo makes an oblique reference to a box, then give Kujo a ring. His job is to deliver the ring to Victorique and to deliver a message. The message seems to involve Victorique solving a specific riddle, a riddle Victorique needs the answer to in order “prove her power” and survive. Then she pulls Kujo close and delivers a second message, one that we can’t hear. Then she walks off. Kujo shouts after her that she should go see her daughter. Cordelia doesn’t reply, she just keeps walking.
We switch back to the priest who is conferring with one of the nuns about the hallucinogen then we switch again, this time to Victorique and Brian. They exchange a few barbs, and it’s revealed that Brian is the one who set up the “Felling Maria” illusion. They talk about the Academy of Science, The Ministry of the Occult and the dawning of an approaching new age of science and reason. (I thought it was the Age of Aquarius…) Brian lets slip a little more information than he meant to (or I should say, he says that let slip too much information) then walks off, calling Victorique a “misbegotten wolf cub.” Victorique wants to ask him if Cordelia had given her a message, but Brian is already gone.
Kujo does not find Brian. Instead, he finds the mysterious old man, who turns out to be Marquis de Blois in a Clever Disguise. Albert admits to some disappointment that the train brought Kujo instead of his “wife” Cordelia Gallo. He is less than happy about Kujo’s rescue attempt and makes an effort at threatening Kujo to stay away from Victorique. Kujo of course refuses because Victorique is his friend. While they are talking, someone opens the floodgates, which means that the convent is about to get flooded. Despite the danger, they continue the argument. De Blois considers his daughter to be a tool for the next war, Kujo is horrified at how very, very crazy de Blois is and declares that he’s going to do his best to protect Victorique from whatever it is that de Blois is planning. De Blois in return points out that even if Kujo takes her back to the school, she will still be in his power because the school is as much his territory as the convent is. Kujo retreats, with a very angry, stubborn look on his face.
With the sea coming in for a visit, the crowd is in a panic. There’s a lot of rushing around and chaos, but Kujo is able to find Victorique, who is apparently sick from the hallucinogenic smoke. She’s upset because hadn’t been able to see her mother, and as a result, is very depressed. She tells Kujo to just leave her, but he refuses, picking her up. He makes a speech about the selfishness of adults and starts to run, carrying Victorique toward the train. This is a very dramatic moment, and Kujo manages to get Victorique onto the train, though he almost does not make it on himself. We end with a brief, romantic moment and Kujo relaying Cordelia’s message to her daughter.