Headless Hugh, doll Reina, President, dragon Isabella, hooded Jill (I still didn’t quite know what sort of being she was), rabbit Aurora, jellyfish Dezire, unicorn Vlad, shark Jedediah and Fluffy Leo – ten people voted for invisible Raphael.

Bear Richard, me, pumpkin Jack and clown Otto voted for Sophie.

Finally, sleepyhead Jace, angel Sophie, goblin Polly, Raphael and trunk Henry abstained from voting. Jace slept through the trial, the whole ordeal not mattering to him, Sophie didn’t change her posture even once after being called out by me. She still was looking at me, expressionlessly. I steeled my resolution to bring the real Sophie out, by any means. We all were meant to disappear one day, but being replaced by someone else at the beginning of their most unusual adventure? That was unforgivable.

Goblin Polly was squirming on her chair, looking at me, Raphael and Sophie with uncertainty. Trunk Henry didn’t look perturbed by the trial in the slightest. Invisible Raphael was looking at an empty place apathetically.

Pumpkin Jack was grinning, though I had a feeling that he was less content that he let on. The mask obscured the clown's face, I couldn’t see what kind of face he was making.

A voice invaded my mind once again, “The results are out. As per majority vote, Raphael Spencer is to be exiled. He indeed was one of the two traitors. The trial grounds will be closed and forbidden to enter until the sixth day.”

Raphael still was sitting, looking at the empty space wistfully. He never broke the silence even when a pillar of light appeared in the hall, encompassing him.

It was too bright for me and I immediately closed my eyes. When I opened them again, Raphael was already gone. Just like that he left us.

According to the voice Raphael was a traitor. Still, some sort of unease didn’t leave me. Something felt off about the situation. Did Raphael truly control Vlad and was scheming in secret? No, I had a feeling that he really wanted to be simply left alone. But again, that ‘traitor’ who was in Raphael’s body, what was he? A sort of a ghost? Or perhaps some sort of a special living being?

Hugh sidled towards me, “That was a major mistake on your part. Raphael didn’t resist, but it will be harder to get rid of the clown. Don’t try anything funny. If we mess up, there will be no next time.”

“I’m telling you, something is wrong with Sophie. We need to get to the root of it,” I refuted. I called the angel, while coming in her direction, “Hey, do you have a minute?”

I blinked. The spot angel Sophie was standing on a second ago, became empty. She disappeared into the thin air. Hugh’s horse glanced at that spot, furrowing its brows. He asked me to stop being distracted by trifles again and went on his way.

Hooded Jill also left, I noted for myself. Why did she leave pumpkin Jack alone, weren’t they, like, best friends or something?

I was about to reach for pumpkin Jack’s handle, but clown Otto got ahead of me, “Don’t worry, I’ll get him back.”

We continued our way in silence, I was pondering about the trial. Its result, Sophie and what exactly were the traitors, continued to disturb me.

“It seems like Hugh doesn’t quite appreciate my presence,” my thought process was disrupted by Otto’s musing.

“In his defense, he already guessed one of the traitors. Tell me, Otto, are you the second traitor?” pumpkin Jack asked Otto cheerfully.

“I have betrayed myself many times before, but not anymore. I have decided that I will definitely get to the truth of what’s going on. At any price.” Otto’s grating voice suddenly echoed with a hint of deep strength.

“Is that so?” pumpkin Jack grinned.

“What do you think about Raphael?” I asked Otto.

“He’s a peculiar one. I could sense that he was strong, more so than he let on. I’m confident that if he really wanted to survive, he could do it. But he completely lacked will. He seemed more of a husk, than a person.” I looked at the motley clown next to me. He looked decrepit and weak, but his conviction was strong. Otto from my memories seemed to lack that fortitude, though I couldn’t say we were particularly close. So who was standing next to me? A classmate who found his inner strength or a traitor, undetermined lifeform with unknown objectives?

“By the way, would you like to help me with a little quest of mine?” Otto asked me. “Do you still remember the existence of my cards?”

“What’s the matter?” I responded. As if I could forget the reason Hugh suspected Otto.

“In a nutshell, my curse requires me to give cards to other people. So I wanted you to choose one. Can you?” Otto showed me a few identical black cards, spreading them like a fan.

“They look identical” I refuted.

“And that’s what's important,” his eyes behind the mask glistened unnaturally as he said that.

If Otto really was a traitor, then it surely would be dangerous to take something from him. But, as far as I could tell, he didn’t mean any harm when he offered cards. So I picked one. Immediately an image started to show through the black cover. A person’s silhouette started to become clearer.

“How do you have her image?” Jack’s smile wilted a bit.

“That’s... unexpected,” Otto mused, talking to himself rather than to either of us. “Perhaps, I was wrong after all.”

On the card was depicted a classmate of mine, witch Rita. But something was wrong with the image. I concentrated on it only to wince as a sharp pang of mental pain assaulted me.

“Are you alright?” clown Otto asked me, sounding genuinely worried.

“This is a strange card,” I muttered.

“It surely is,” Otto agreed. I tried to give the card back to him but he didn’t take it. “It’s yours. Maybe one day it will come in handy.”

I put the card in my pocket, next to the green stone I picked up in the statues’ village.

We entered the settlement. Exhaustion was piling up, but the trial's outcome made it rather hard for me to sleep peacefully. I decided to take a short trip to the beach where I once saw Raphael.

There I sat on the sand under a palm tree’s shadow. The sun was still high in the sky, and crystal clear waves were lulling me to sleep.

I heard footsteps. It seemed like someone decided to disrupt the idyllic atmosphere. Bear Richard sat next to me on the sand, “I also tried to talk to Sophie, on my own accord. Something is definitely wrong but she won’t admit what. I wanted to help, that’s all to it.”

Seeing that I was silent, bear Richard continued, “This entire situation, I’m not suited for it. Distrust, doubts – I don’t like where this is going. I guess, I’ll abstain from the next voting. Life isn’t a lonely road. It’s better to spend time together with friends, while we have a chance, rather than wall yourself from the others.”

“Maybe, you are right.” I didn’t refute. Deep down I felt that I wanted to pursue the truth, but my exhaustion made it so that I was content with sitting idly for a while.

Richard didn’t talk anymore. He and I just sat there in silence, watching waves hit the shore, as the sun slowly descended down the horizon.