The dark energy of the curse rockets forward, slamming into my chest. Dark tendrils grow from the source and wrap around me, creating a dome around me.

  As the dome begins to seal, I watch as Penelope disappears from sight and reappears right next to me in the dome. She then grabs my shoulder, and we disappear, but we don’t find ourselves outside of the dome. Instead, we crash hard against the dark dome.

  I groan as I lie flat on the ground. “Couldn’t you have been faster?” I ask.

  Penelope shrugs off the pain. “I was trying to save you. Maybe be a little bit more appreciative,” she says as she examines the dome.

  I brush off some dirt as I stand. “You’re right. Thank you, Penelope, for almost saving me. I’m happy that we are going to both die together,” I sarcastically say.

  She turns to me. “Would it hurt you to take what's happening seriously?”

  “It depends.”

  “Gods, we’ve been hit by one of the thousand curses in the Durook. You understand what that means, right?” she explains.

  “Technically, we haven’t been hit yet,” I correct.

  “What?”

  “Technically, we haven’t been hit yet. The [System] hasn’t told me that a curse has been used yet. The only thing this big bad curse has actually done is trap me in here with you.”

  “And you don’t see the urgency in that. We are trapped in a dark dome with no access to food or water. We’re going to die in here,” Penelope says with an oddly calm demeanor.

  “Oh, please, Penelope. Enough with the theatrics. They don’t suit you. If it were a suicide mission, you wouldn’t have tried to grab me. So, what trick do you have under your sleeve?” I ask as I sit down on the ground.

  “What are you talking about?” she says, feigning innocence.

  “Let me guess. You were hoping to get my guard down and have me admit that I’m not The Chosen One. I respect the deception, but sadly, Penelope, you’re not good at it.”

  She clicks her tongue at me. “I hate that you know me so well. Fine. That cult leader didn’t do the spell right. He rushed it. This curse is incomplete. The most dangerous thing about it is that we can’t get out by ourselves. The dome is basically impenetrable from the inside. Luckily, my cousin is outside with the Durook. He should have us out of here in due time.”

  “My Gods, Penelope. You knew that before you came in here. If you wanted to be alone with me, you could’ve just asked,” I mock.

  Penelope rolls her eyes as she leans on the dome's wall. “Don’t flatter yourself, CJ.”

  “...”

  “What?” she says, looking down at me.

  “Nothing. Princess, what was the curse originally supposed to do?” I ask as I watch her reaction.

  “It would’ve filled the dome with your worst nightmares. A never-ending stream based on your memories.” It answers.

  “I see. I guess you were right, though. He did rush it. After all, the curse seems to be half-baked like you said,” I say as I reach for my sword.

  “What gave me away?” It asks.

  I let out a hearty laugh as I turn to face the fake Penelope. “A lot, but mainly the names. Penelope has never called me by name. Not once since I’ve met her. That and I’ve never heard her call Garus her cousin,” I say as I slash through it.

  My blade cleanly passes through it, only for the fake Penelope to dissipate into dark smoke. “Really, that small tidbit was enough for you to catch on?”

  I sheathe my sword as I look around at the dome around me. “It may be small to you, but to me it’s a big deal. You also didn’t react in the way I expected when I called you Princess. You see, Penelope hides it well, but she hates it when people call her Princess instead of her name.”

  “You have a keen eye, Chosen One. It is a shame that you are my quarry," it says as it appears behind me.

  “You may be an evil smoke monster born from an evil artifact, but it seems that doesn’t give you insight into the mortal psyche,” I say calmly.

  “What do you speak of?” the smoke monster asks.

  “Why do you think I’m not scared right now? I should be. After all, I'm stuck in an impenetrable dome with dark smoke that wants to kill me. Don’t you think I would be a little scared?” I ask as I let out a yawn.

  The fake Penelope cocks its head. “You do seem awfully calm. Why is that?” it asks, taking the bait.

  “That’s simple. If Penelope isn’t in here with me, that means she’s out there with the Durook,” I explain.

  The smoke creature lets out a terrifying laugh. “You believe you will last that long? It will take her hours to figure out how to break this curse. You don’t even have minutes.”

  “Damn. Drak really messed up that curse. You must not be able to read my memories that well, because if you knew Penelope, you’d have killed me by now,” I say as the dark dome shatters around me, destroying the curse and the dark smoke.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  “Took you long enough. It was cramped in there,” I say to the real Penelope.

  Penelope slams the Durook shut. “Don’t you start with me, Charlatan. Do you know how hard it is to decipher this writing? In fact, why didn’t you get yourself out?”

  “Well, I didn’t want to outshine you. Had to give you a chance after all,” I tease.

  Hopper hops over to me. “Are you okay, CJ?”

  “Just peachy. Did we get them all?” I ask as I look around at the tied-up cultists.

  Garus sighs as he floats the Sacrificial Dagger into an empty. “As far as we know. Which means I can eat my lunch in peace. It’s been… something. I bid you all farewell,” he says as he starts to leave.

  “See you later, friend,” I yell out as he leaves.

  Penelope rolls her eyes as she throws the Durook into the same pot as the Sacrificial Dagger. “He’s always been like that. Well, I guess it’s time to bring in the Student Council.”

  “Good luck with that, Penelope,” I say as I try to leave.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” she asks.

  “Back to my room,” I say slowly.

  “No, no, no. You’re coming with me to the Student Council. You get to help me explain all this to them,” she says, grabbing a hold of my shoulder.

  “A bit strong there, don't you think?” I ask as I look down at her hand.

  “I just want to make sure you don’t fall on our way to the Student Council,” she says as she leads me out of the club room.

  “Hopper, help! I’m being kidnapped!”

  Hopper gives me a long blink. “I’ll take guard of the unconscious cultists. Please don’t be long,” he says, betraying me.

  We reach the top floor of Iris Hall as Penelope forces me down the hall.

  “You know, it’s late. They’re probably not even there. Lets check in during the morning of next week or the week after that. We really shouldn’t bother them at all,” I complain as the door to the Student Council comes into view.

  “Oh, don’t worry, Charlatan. The head of the Disciplinary Committee is a workaholic. He doesn’t go home until after midnight,” she says as she opens the door.

  The mostly empty and dark Student Council room sprawls out before us. At the end of the room, I see a small lantern that illuminates the silhouette of a rather large man in a purple version of our uniform. A fourth year.

  The man turns to us, revealing his human features and tan skin. “Ah, Princess, I was waiting for you,” he says before turning to me. “Ah, Chosen One, I didn’t see you. It is a privilege to meet you.”

  “Likewise. What’s your name?”

  “Ah, apologies. I always forget that. I am Mavis Blinc, Disciplinary Head of the Student Council,” Mavis introduces himself.

  “Lovely. I’m-”

  “He knows who you are,” Penelope says, interrupting me.

  “I do,” Mavis agrees, “but on to more important matters. What brings you to the Student Council so late in the night?”

  “Cultists,” we both say in unison, much to our displeasure.

  Mavis nods. “Ah, you have a lead on some cultists? We’ll get right on that. Please tell me as much as you know.”

  “Well, there are about ten of them. They are unconscious and tied up downstairs,” I jokingly state the situation.

  Mavis looks at me with confusion and then over to Penelope.

  “He’s telling the truth, oddly. They also had two artifacts. The thousand curse tome, Durook, and a Sacrificial Dagger,” she says, handing the pot over to Mavis.

  Mavis takes the pot and carefully looks over the contents. “I’m impressed that you managed to do this on your own. I’ve already sent members of the Disciplinary Committee to retrieve the cultists. We’ll deal with the rest. Go rest,” he says with a forceful, but caring tone.

  “Don’t have to tell me twice,” I say as I quickly leave the room with Penelope on my heels.

  “Charlatan, get back here,” she orders as she chases me down the hall.

  “Sorry. Can’t hear you. I’ll catch you tomorrow,” I say as I run down the halls, outpacing her.

  Walking out into the snow, I slow down. I don’t know what she wants to ‘talk’ about, but I just know it’s going to lead to more time wasted that I could’ve used to sleep instead. Born to sleep, but forced to fight off the forces of evil. What a bad time to be impersonating The Chosen One. Let's get some shuteye.

  The classroom blurs together as I let out an eye-watering yawn. I am tired. Hopper is tired. Garus is tired. The only person in this room who isn’t tired is, seemingly, Penelope somehow. I don’t understand how she’s even functioning. I’m barely holding it together myself.

  Hopper gives me a nudge as my eyes threaten to shut.

  “What? The Professor isn’t even here yet,” I find excuses as I try to sleep.

  “I think you have visitors,” Hopper says.

  Opening my eyes, I recognize the muscular frame of one Cliff Baker. The interim President of the Cooking Club. Flanking him are seemingly other club members.

  As our eyes meet, he makes a beeline towards me. “Are you the one who did this?” he asks, pointing at a flier that I’ve never seen.

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I say innocently.

  Cliff slowly nods his head. “I see how it is. To think that The Chosen One would stoop to creating an attack ad. What, you can’t make ‘real’ cookies, so you had to cripple the competition?” he accuses me with no evidence.

  “Okay. You can accuse me of stealing or cheating or lying, but I will not allow slander of my cookies,” I say, standing to meet him.

  “Why don’t you put your cookies where your mouth is?” he asks.

  “Well, I would eat them?” I ask, confused.

  “You and me. One week from now. We’ll have a bake-off. The winner will get the club's secret cookie recipe, and the loser will publicly admit they are the inferior cook,” he says, successfully baiting me.

  “Deal. By the [System], I, CJ, accept this challenge."

  “By the [System], I, Cliff, accept this challenge.”

  “I’ll see you in the kitchen,” Cliff says as he leaves my classroom.

  Penelope smiles at me.

  “Why are you smiling?” I ask suspiciously.

  “We’re going to fight a giant today,” she says with a stupid grin.

  Fuck, I forgot about that!