Sophia got up and approached the trembling girl and spoke near her face with a wicked grin on her lips, “I am going to hurt you so, so much… You are going to beg me to stop, and I will take off your arm and beat you with it. Then, I am going to cut your titties off and shuffle them down your friend’s throats. You didn’t learn, did you? That’s why you thought it was a good idea to try to scare me by saying you were also going to participate in the Competition. I am glad you are going to enter, you know? It will give me plenty of chances to hurt you without anyone realizing I will be doing it on purpose.”

“You… You can’t do that… Everyone will see and stop you…”

“Sure, I can. Just stand in front of me at any event, and you will find out how terrifying I can be. You liked to be a bully, didn’t you? To scare everyone in this school without being afraid of any repercussions because your parents had the Principal in their pockets. Now that he found out it was a bad idea to be easily bribed, and he was almost fired and now has people watching his every move to kick him out the moment he fails with his job, things aren’t that easy for you and your gang. Let’s see if you and your two friends over here like to be the ones being bullied or beaten up. Now get out of here and go cry behind some tree, like the scared little dog you are!”

Eliza ran away crying, with her two friends screaming in fear right behind her. Sophia shrugged and looked around at the surprised students in the cafeteria and said, “Strange how they are now so scared when they have been messing with everyone since the school year started!”

One girl on another table asked with a puzzled look, “But what did you say to them?”

“Nothing much, just that I would love to face them in the Schools Competition! Eliza said she was going to participate with such a look that it seemed she thought I would quit entering! She was so mistaken! I like tough opponents! Not that she will ever be a worthy opponent, that is!”

The same girl asked, with her eyes wide open, “You are going to hurt her, won’t you?”

“Probably, but what did she expect? I didn’t forget the last time she put my head in a toilet, and I almost drowned when she flushed! I am going to pray for us to go against each other in every single event in that competition! I am going to make her regret ever messing with me! But why are you so worried about her? You are one of her followers, or what?”

“No, but I am worried you will get in trouble! I want them to suffer as much as they made me suffer with all the bullying! But at the same time, I think… If you bully them, you won’t be any better…”

Sophia raised one eyebrow and spoke, “I never said I was a good girl, did I? I always try to remain calm as much as possible so that I don’t lose control of my bad temper and kill anyone, but those three brats pushed their luck when they started messing with me, so I am just paying them back. You don’t need to worry about me. I am never going to act with other kids like those three have been doing until recently, but I will get my revenge for everything they did to me. And to you. And to everyone else.”

“Thanks… but try not to get yourself in trouble, okay? You are kind of everyone’s hero in this school, you know? I am sure no one wants to see you suspended again or expelled.”

Sophia said with a slight grin on her lips, “It’s just a Schools Competition. What can possibly go wrong?”

…

Later that night, Jack Cross was at home, in his bathroom. Sophia was in her room, playing with her pets.

He started washing his teeth while waiting for his Demi-Cat friend to appear in the mirror. It had been a few nights since the last time they spoke, so he was kind of worried.

A familiar voice made him raise his head, but his smile vanished as quickly as it appeared when he saw the worried face in the mirror. “What happened? You look terrible!”

“It has been an interesting voyage so far, and we started flying only a few days ago.”

“A voyage? Where to?”

Craydon Crawler took a slow, deep breath and said, “To the front lines near the mountain range, which serves as a border to the Demon's country. Meryda is going to talk with the Oomans of the Alliance, and if everything goes like that weird Fae said, perhaps there is a chance for us to speak with the Demons as well.”

“That is insane! Why did you agree with that?”

“There was not much I could do after the Guild Master’s treason. The Fae gave us the idea, and I also think it is the best we can do. Meryda has to see for herself how things are in the mountain range and decide. To me, all the Oomans in that Alliance are too evil for their own good. The Demons are not even attacking! There are only Monsters in the mountain range, preventing the soldiers and Mages from invading. In my book, that is not something a bloodthirsty group of beings would ever do.”

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Jack slowly nodded and asked, “There is nothing I can say to make you quit and return home? Because you two could be going to your deaths.”

“That is why I want to ask for a favour.”

“Sure, but I am not seeing what I can do from this side!”

“Can you go call your daughter? I think the kids need to talk and perhaps help each other. Maybe we should have done this long ago, but we both agreed it would be best if we were the only ones knowing we could talk through a mirror, but considering what might happen in the front lines, it is better if they also know.”

Jack Cross stood silent for a while, and he then said, “I think you are right. My daughter is acting too violently, even for her. She might need to talk with your daughter and learn how to calm down. Go call yours, and I will get mine.”

The image in the mirror changed to his reflection the moment Jack Cross took his hand from the mirror.

He went in search of his daughter, and after knocking on her door, he entered and said, “Sophia, I have something very important to tell you.”

“If it is about Mia, I already know. She is moving in? Or are we going to move to her house?”

“Nothing like that. Maybe it will happen someday, but it is not about that.” He then frowned at the aquarium where the snake was and asked, “She is staring at me because she is hungry?”

“No, she ate a cricket a few minutes ago. Did Mia say anything about the guinea pigs I gave her? She is taking good care of them, at least?”

Jack scratched his head and answered, “I saw them in her room some days ago. They seemed alright to me. She petted them in the morning, right before going down for breakfast.”

“Oh, you slept with her? Things are like that now?”

“We just slept, nothing more. We are taking things slowly to see what happens. But can you shut up for a moment so that I can explain something really important?”

Sophia stopped feeding her fish, sat on the chair near the table and said, “Very well, I am all ears. What’s up?”

“Remember when we arrived? A light took us here, and we found out we had memories of other people that were in these bodies.” His daughter nodded, so he continued, “Well, I found out the owners of these bodies are now inside our bodies in Crosslot. I think our souls changed places. I have no idea why, and it seems it never happened.”

“Say what?”

“I also found out I can communicate with the Human that is in my body through a mirror if we both place one hand over the mirror. He let me talk with a Fae that was with him one night, and even that green weirdo didn’t know how this happened.”

Sophia gasped and asked, “But… why did you never say anything? How long do you know?”

“We both agreed we should keep this to ourselves. At least while we tried to find a way to change back. It seems it might be impossible to go back, so we are stuck here.”

“But you want to go back to Crosslot? What about Mia? What about me and… I like it here!”

“I like it as well, but I don’t know if my friend and his daughter don’t want to return to their bodies. We never talked about that, actually. This world is way more peaceful and less dangerous than Crosslot, so we have to understand if they want to come back.”

Sophia went silent for a while, and she then asked, “Do you think I can talk to her? It’s just… I have her memories, and sometimes… I consider her my long-lost friend… I kind of want to meet her…”

“That is why I am here. Her father was in the mirror talking with me, and he said you two should talk. They are going on a voyage to the border of the Demon's country to meet with the Ooman Alliance.”

Seeing that his daughter looked puzzled, Jack Cross told her about his previous talks with his Human friend, together with their suspicions about the Oomans Alliance and the reasons for the never-ending war in the mountain range.

When he said that a Fae told Meryda and her father that they should meet with the Oomans and then maybe talk with the Demons to hear their side of that conflict, Sophia got up and asked, “What are we waiting for? I want to see her!”

They both went to the bathroom, and Sophia put her hand over the mirror. Her Human reflection stared back at her, but after a couple of seconds, it changed to a Demi-Cat girl, making her smile. “Hello, pretty me! How are things over there?”

“Amazing! It is really me! I mean, it is you! Gosh, I want to ask you so many things! What is happening to you over there?”

“Funny things, actually. What about you? Did Pof already annoy you? I used to beat up that brat every time I saw him! He got on my nerves so easily!” Noticing that Meryda was turning red and her tail was moving to both sides at high speed, Sophia asked, “Why did you get so nervous? Even your tail is acting weird!”

Meryda grabbed her tail with one hand and squeezed it while complaining, “This stupid tail has a mind of its own! I am trying to teach her how to behave, but it’s no use! Sometimes I have to bite this stupid thing because it won’t stay still!”

“You are becoming redder by the minute! What is happening to you over there?”

Meryda glanced at her father and remained silent. Sophia winked at her and said, “Can you two old guys leave? The girls need to talk in private!”

Jack and Craydon smiled, and they both left the bathroom, leaving Meryda and Sophia alone. After a while, the nervous Meryda said, “Pof told me he liked me and that I always knew how he felt. I know he was talking about you, and I remembered you used to pretend not to notice he liked you. He said he liked your bad temper, but he also liked that I am now calm and serious. And… I kind of said I also like him… I hope you are not mad…”