I woke up to a touch of cold stone and to a sound of trickling water. Something definitely was not right yet again. I opened my heavy lids, trying to observe the situation unfolding.

The last thing I remembered was me returning to my hut after spending some time together with Richard. What happened while I was asleep?

It was already the second time my rest had been so rudely interrupted during my stay on the island. I heard an unmistakably familiar sound of turning pages. As I spun on the heels of my shoes, I ended up book-to-face with President.

“What’s going on,” I asked him. Were the both of us abducted to this place with some terrifying purpose in mind?

“Well, no need to be so surprised. I simply wanted you to help with a limitation of mine.”

“Wait. You are not going to tell me that you carried me away in the middle of the night, right?” I clarified.

“Carried? No, of course not! I’m not a savage to use such a barbaric method. I teleported you. It takes more finesse, you see,” President rustled his pages in encouragement.

“So, what’s your curse condition?” I cut to the chase, too accustomed to strange happenings to argue. Though, after we are done, I will make sure that he knows my opinion towards his shenanigans.

“Don’t tell me, you weren’t there when I declared my limitation… Oh, it seems like you really weren’t there. My apologies. You see, my curse is terrifyingly taxing.” President explained, his pages turning ominously.

I figured that it was quite a severe case of a limitation. Otherwise, people normally won’t kidnap their classmates in the dead of the night.

“I am required to make sure to support the mental and physical state of my classmates as the president of the class. That’s my limitation,” President continued. “I came to the decision that the best method to accomplish that is morning calisthenics. Physical activities produce endorphins – happiness hormones. Supervising calisthenics takes my time, which means I have a rather serious limitation, but we can’t change that, now, can we? Alright, let me explain what you should do…”

No matter how annoyed I was by President’s actions, I didn’t abandon him. We spent a few years together, even if President wasn’t very reasonable at times, I wouldn’t leave him in a lurch.

I initially decided that I would go with President’s nonsense. Perhaps, I was wrong after all. It wasn’t a friendly calisthenics for a classmate that he set his mind upon, it was a serious Olympic champion’s training.

I was surprised my body put up with it to the very end. It seemed like Sheep’s body was proving to be more well-endowed than I initially judged it to be. Resilience is a good quality.

Finally, tired almost as I was after Polly’s portal mishap, I completed President’s training session. The only difference was that at that time I was pulled down by mental tiredness and this time, as it seemed, it was purely physical.

When I was on my way towards the settlement, I chanced upon shark Jedediah. The training session occurred in the mountains, near the caves. President explained that it was a good place, as we were unlikely to be disturbed by others there.

So was Jedediah on his way towards caves? I don’t remember whether he was among classmates who decided to explore caves or whether he was among those who decided to abstain.

“Hey,” Jedediah called me, revealing several rows of sharp teeth. “President called you. Seems like he thought of something grand.”

Called me? Didn’t we part just ten minutes ago? It seemed that after becoming a book, President lost more than his arms and legs. Why couldn’t President give me a break with those lofty plans of his? Didn't he understand that unlike him, I actually was made up of flesh and blood and not paper?

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“I’m tired. If it isn’t urgent, I’ll return to the settlement and catch a break,” I refuted.

“But it’s urgent, which is why I was sent,” Jedediah insisted.

I exhaled. If it wasn’t something with our lives being on the line, I would let President know what I think of him and his ideas.

We went towards the caves, in a somewhat different direction, than I left President in.

“Where are we going?” I asked Jedediah.

“It seems like President found something in the mountains. He said he would explain to the both of us upon our arrival.”

“What about…” I tried to ask another question but shark Jedeiah interrupted me.

“As I said, we need to hurry. It’s better to put excess energy in legs instead of tongue,” I caught a hint of annoyance in Jedediah’s voice.

At last, we entered a cave. It lacked light and its walls were veiled by shadows. No matter how intently I looked, aside of a bowl with a fish inside, the cave was empty and menacing. If that cave could talk, it would probably try to warn me, to send me back, but unfortunately caves aren’t known for their talkativeness.

I entered inside, still trying to spot President inside this cave, bare of sentient creatures. I wanted to ask my guide, perhaps he knew where to find President.

"Jedediah," I started a question that was not meant to ever be finished. The world blurred in front of my eyes as the great tail struck upon my shoulders, throwing me like a ragdoll towards one of the walls. When it became more discernible, I saw Jedediah's tail up close, about to strike again. I stumbled aside, barely avoiding a dangerous hit.

"You can avoid all you want. You are not escaping this time," Jedediah growled, his jet black eyes showing no pity or compassion.

“Why?” I let out, unable to understand what happened to Jedediah. Was he being controlled?

“You are full of surprises.” shark Jedediah bared his teeth in rancor, an emotion I never noticed in him prior to this day. “It was obvious that Raphael and you are both traitors. Both were always missing at crucial points of time, one can’t be perceived, the other even has no name. Yet you somehow managed to get a strong support. Hugh, Richard, how did you even manage to persuade them? It’s always the same. If you want something done, do it yourself.”

It seems like after becoming a shark, Jedediah went completely bonkers. Shark clicked his teeth, floating towards me. This was very wrong. Sharks should eat fish, not classmates.

“Stop! You know, you won’t accomplish anything. Even if I lose my body here, I’ll just possess yours. That’s not something I’m in control of,” I tried to dissuade the crazy shark but the latter just laughed.

“That’s something you are wrong about. You see, I have an ability that allows me to see weaknesses of those who I consider enemies. So, monster, did you think that your secret was safe? As if. I know that your body is incredibly fragile when you are trying to reform, so when you try to devour that fish.” He pointed at a fish bowl at some distance and continued, “I’ll make sure you’ll be gone. This time, forever.”

I gulped. I really believed in my own immortality. I was careless because of that. And I really shouldn’t have had. In terms of size and raw power, shark Jedediah was superior to me, so trying to stay in the cave didn’t seem like a good idea. I tried dashing towards the cave’s exit, but my unhinged classmate stopped me with ease, “Speed always was my forte,” Jedediah clicked his teeth menacingly.

Even though he had an advantage, he never relaxed, watching my every move with utmost vigilance. Did he think I had some tricks up my sleeve? Did I have any tricks up my sleeve? I really hoped so. I tried to dash towards the fish bowl but was stopped by the shark again. He slowly but surely was cornering me. Even though the cave's entrance was so close, I didn’t have any chances of reaching it, did I?

“None of you ever learn,” the shark's tail sent me flying into the wall when I tried to dash towards the entrance again. I tried to stand up and open my eyes, but neither listened to my command. I was tired, the whole body was ringing with pain. I was tired, the whole body was ringing with pain. And in a corner of my mind I wanted to become some sort of a huge whale, flying in the clouds. That would be pretty neat, Jedediah wouldn’t be able to do anything to me if I were one.

I heard the deranged shark scream in confusion. What was happening? I forced myself to open my eyes. The giant shark was squirming its massive body while pinned to the ground by a teddy bear, who didn’t lose to Jedediah in terms of size. He wailed and tried to bite the intruder but to no avail, it seems like the shark wasn’t the apex predator. All this time the position on the top of the food chain belonged to a plush toy.

“You alright?” Richard looked at me. His voice seemed slightly tired. Not physically tired, it didn’t seem like he spent much effort holding the shark pinned to the ground.

“I have been better,” I grunted trying to get up holding onto the wall’s rough texture.

Richard nodded. At that moment Jedediah roared, he tried to shake Richard with all of his strength. Even I was able to feel the momentum from where I was standing. Yet, Richard suppressed it all without moving an inch. Shark gave up on its attempts. It just lay there, whimpering. The difference between the current Jedediah that lost his hope and self-assured predator, which he was two minutes ago, was too drastic. I found myself staring at him in a daze.

Richard stood up and strode towards me, “Let’s go?”

I squeezed my eyes shut as a sudden pang of pain invaded my brain when I tried to make a step. "A bit of help with that will be appreciated."