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.

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 was so rudely interrupted during my stay on the island. I heard a familiar rustle behind me. I turned only to end 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 you that you carried me away in the middle of the night, right?” I clarified.

“That would be the case,” President rustled his pages in affirmation.

“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 through 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?

“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. In the middle of it there was a small bowl with a lonely fish swimming in it. I looked around but saw no signs of President being here. I turned towards Jedediah, “Where’s…”

I couldn’t finish the question. Jedediah’s struck me with his tail, making the world shake before my eyes. He tried to strike again, but I was able to stumble aside.

“Why?” I let out, unable to understand what happened to Jedediah. Was he 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 in 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, “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. 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 as I tried to make a step, “A bit of help with that will be appreciated.”