The shivers of winter pierce through me as I scoop up another handful of snow. The grey sky hangs above me, and the sound of students fills the empty silence.

  I just had to grow an ice orchid. An ice orchid that requires a certain amount of sunlight that it can’t find outside of the greenhouse, and a certain temperature that would kill the rest of the plants in the greenhouse. These gloves aren’t doing anything worth a damn. Why did I do this?

  As I continue to collect snow, the crunch of footsteps approaches from behind me.

  “What are you doing, Chosen One?” Ruby asks as she looks down at me.

  “Can’t you see, Ruby, I’m digging up snow,” I say with a hint of annoyance at myself rather than her.

  “Why?” she asks with a befuddled look.

  I stop digging and turn to her. “How can I help you today, Ruby?”

  “I don’t need help,” she says as she conjures flames in her hand.

  “It’s the end of the day, we are nowhere near any of the Halls you frequent, and you’re standing out in the cold instead of anywhere else but here. What’s wrong, Ruby?” I ask again.

  “How do you know what Halls I frequent?”

  “Not important. What’s important is why you are here. Care to enlighten me?” Carefully, I bring my hands close to the flame.

  “Ok. You got me. I came to see if you could help me with something,” she says reluctantly.

  “And that is?” I ask.

  Trying to get something out of her is like pulling teeth. Why was it so easy the last time we talked? Was it the cookies? I already ate all the cookies in my bag. I’ll have to keep more on me in case this happens again.

  “It’s about my sister. She recently came to talk to me and she-”

  As Ruby begins to explain, I watch as the sky erupts in a red hue. Huh, looks like something hit the barrier around the school. Based on the constant red pulse that’s covering the entire school, I’d say it’s still attacking it. Eh, nothing to worry about.

  “You were saying,” I say to Ruby.

  Ruby looks up at the blood-red sky. “Shouldn’t we be worried about that?”

  I take a second look at the pulsating barrier. “Nah, I’m not getting a bad feeling about it. Something about your sister?”

  Reluctantly, Ruby continues, “Yeah… She came to me with a new attitude, kind of. She was all about how she’s going to shoot for ‘good enough,’ whatever that means, and that I shouldn’t work myself too hard.”

  “Well, that sounds like a bunch of bullshit. Who put that idea in her head?” I ask with full sincerity.

  “I don’t know, but it doesn’t even make sense. You should always try your best. If you only aim for the middle ground, you’ll never hit your goal. You’ll always be just shy.”

  I nod along as I watch four professors float up into the sky towards the barrier. “Let me tell you something. Do you know what happens to people who only give it 50%? They only get half of what they want. You commit or you don’t do it all is what I think,” I say with full sincerity.

  “Thank you. Finally, someone who understands. What do you think I should do about my sister?” she asks as colorful beams slice through the sky behind her.

  “From what I can tell, this isn’t her usual MO. She must be changing her ways because of your interference. Don’t stop now. Keep it up until she finally gets back on the saddle,” I say a large explosion clears the clouds from the sky.

  “You’re right. Thanks for the advice, Chosen One. Is your flower supposed to look like that?”

  With fear in my eyes, I look over at the ice orchid. The petals have started to droop, and the icy core is starting to thaw.

  What’s wrong? Why is it melting? We’re outside the temperature should be sufficient to keep it from melting.

  Ruby leans closer with a conjured flame in her hands. “I’m not great with plants, but that doesn’t look healthy.”

  What is it with all these Dryads and not being good with plants? Is it just a really bad stereotype, or- My head turns to the flames in Ruby's hand.

  “What’s wrong?” she asks, looking me straight in the eyes.

  I carefully pick up some snow off the ground and extinguish the flames.

  “Oh. I’m sorry. I’m going to leave now. Thank you,” Ruby says as she scurries away.

  You’ve got to be kidding me. Why didn’t I notice the flames earlier?

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  “You’re going to be okay, right?” I ask the ice orchid.

  With the flames doused, the petals start to perk up, and the icy core stops thawing. I knew things- All of a sudden, a small piece of rock brushes past my horns at a rapid speed, shattering the ice orchid into a million pieces.

  Numb with so many emotions, I slowly turn my head to the battle that has been occurring above me. The now, two professors seem to be battling a heavily injured demon that I recognize as The Blitz Demon, Gryn. He seems to have gotten through the barrier, but not without taking a couple of licks. Most of it was probably the barrier, but I’m sure the professors did some of it.

  Reaching into a special pocket in my jacket, I pull out a small pouch of seeds. I carefully place a seed no larger than a pea in the palm of my hand. I knew I would find use for these Carnivorous Bramble seeds.

  Tracing Gryn’s movements, I prepare to [Throw]. I watch as one of the professors sends forth an explosion that Gryn manages to dodge. In that moment I [Throw] the seed high into the air and watch it begin to fall. Guess it was too high. Disappointed, I watch as a rogue wind sends the seed flying high into the sky and straight into Gryn’s bicep.

  Gryn looks shocked as the seed bites into his arm and quickly begins to grow. The muscle around the bite suddenly deflates as the seed efficiently liquifies the muscle and slurps it up like a smoothie. The Carnivorous Bramble quickly begins to grow, threatening to wrap all the way around his arm. With no other choice, Gryn cuts out the affected area.

  Eh, that looked gnarly. I had heard stories of what Carnivorous Bramble was like, but I guess seeing is a whole other matter. It’s probably best that I don’t use this in a friendly duel or against anybody I actually care about. Well, I got my revenge. Sleep? Yeah, sleeping sounds like a good idea.

  As the tide of battle above turns in favor of the professors, I watch Gryn retreat. Distracted, I accidentally bump into Garus. The last person I wanted to see today.

  “Watch where you’re going, Devil,” he spits as he continues on his way.

  So, rude. Sure, I wasn’t looking where I was going, but he wasn’t either. As I shake my head, I see a small, inconspicuous envelope on the ground. Huh, Garus must have dropped this. I should give this back to him… After I open and read it.

  Pulling out a letter, I begin to read out loud to myself, “Lord Garus, we plead that you change your mind. The Organization would love to have someone of your standing. If you change your mind, please join us tonight in the Cooking Club room. We will be eagerly awaiting your arrival. P.S. Don’t forget to bring a cloak. Signed The Organization.”

  Huh, sleep earlier or impersonate Garus at this super secret meeting? I think I’m left with no other option. Where do I get a cloak?

  Walking through the halls of Iris Hall, I note the familiar rooms that I saw about two weeks ago. To think I got lost in this place and somehow ended up eating poison. Ah, the good old days of two weeks ago. I can’t even consider it bad luck. This is where I got [Poison Res.], which has been extremely useful.

  I pull on the edges of my cloak as it drags along the ground. I’m thankful that Hopper let me borrow his cloak, but it sucks that he’s so much taller than me. I had to hold this cloak up the entire way here in order to keep it dry from the snow. This super duper secret meeting better be worth it.

  Walking up to the door of the Cooking Club room, I give a gentle knock. The door slides open to reveal a darkened interior lit only by a couple of candles.

  “Lord Garus. We are overjoyed to see that you’ve changed your mind,” the cloaked man at the door says as he beckons me in.

  Realizing I sound nothing like Garus, I nod and walk into the clearly not an evil room. As I do, I see clearly not an evil book and clearly not an evil magic circle drawn on the ground. I’m starting to think that Garus may have rejected this meeting for a reason.

  The cloaked doorman gestures to an empty seat, which I promptly take.

  Ok, this looks evil, but looks can be deceiving. This place could just be outwardly really scary, but otherwise be about puppies and exchanging cooking recipes. Gods that would be amazing. I wonder if anybody wants to swap cooking recipes? I’ve been meaning to find a recipe for cakes. I feel like I’m ready for that. Yeah, you know what? I’m going to bake a cake tomorrow.

  “Let us begin our weekly meeting,” a cloaked man with a deep voice says, interrupting my internal thought process.

  Ah, shit. I forgot I was at this weird cult looking meeting. I could make an excuse and leave, but let’s see how this plays out. Maybe it’s not as bad as I think.

  “Let us begin our introductory chant. Children of the destined bloodline, hear our cries of solitude and answer them with blood. The blood of the superior runs through our veins, which we will use to cleanse this world of the inferior beings. May we succeed in the mission,” they say in unison.

  Fuck. These guys are evil. No, maybe they’re just really passionate about… Oh, for the love of the Gods, I can’t even think of anything. These guys are full of evil. It’s basically flowing out of them. No wonder Garus didn’t want anything to do with these guys. Oh, how do I get out of here?

  “Lord Garus, thank you for joining us. I know you felt strongly about declining our invitations to the organization, but I am happy to see that you’ve had a change of mind. Does this mean that you’ll be funding our future expenditure?” the cloaked man asks.

  I shake my head.

  “But why, Lord Garus? Can’t you see our mission aligns with your will?”

  I lift my gloved hand up and shake my finger at him.

  The cloaked man takes a deep bow. “I understand. You believe us to be insufficient for your greatness. How dare we even suggest that you join us in this state?”

  I slowly nod my head.

  “I understand. We will prove ourselves by dispatching The Chosen One. That Devil should not hold such an esteemed title. We will be rid of that Devil soon,” the cloaked man says.

  I quickly shake my head.

  “Is something the matter?”

  I give a deep nod.

  “Ah, I understand. You want us to attack The Chosen One tonight. Even one more night with him breathing the same air is too much.”

  I slowly bring my hands to my face as I think about how I got here. I could’ve gone to bed instead, but no, I just had to make things worse. Well, at least things can’t get any worse. It’s all uphill from here.

  A sudden knocking reverberates through the otherwise silent room. The door then opens to reveal Garus.

  “Listen. I would appreciate it if you stopped sending me invitations to this,” Garus says.

  The entire room turns to me.

  Fuck. I guess it can get worse.