The world turned upside down, “Heeeey, cantcha hear me?” I heard annoyed notes in Dezire’s voice as her tentacles were holding me by my shins. She swayed me left and right, probably to make sure that she was the center of my attention. It seemed like she wasn’t going to release me unless I gave her an answer anytime soon. Perhaps common sense wasn’t so common after all.

“What’s the matter Dezire?” I asked, tired enough to call this a day.

“So you weren’t listening to me after all! Nevermind! Get it on your own, then,” Dezire harrumphed and floated away from the village, without forgetting to carefully put me on the ground with pumpkin Jack still in hand.

I sat under a lush tree shadow and heaved a sigh. Luckily, no one else was around and I could spend some time in quiet and peace. After some time, drowsy, I prepared to enter the dreamland when I was stirred awake by bear Richard, “There you are. Here, have a hand,” he helped me up, while taking Jack. “We don’t have much time. The trial will start soon. You look worn out. Did anything happen? You can tell me on the way if you want to, hurry. If we miss it, the consequences won’t be light.”

Luckily, we checked on goblin Polly. She was still in her hut, fast asleep. According to Richard, everyone received information when the trial would begin a few hours ago, of which jellyfish Dezire was supposed to warn me. Everyone should have included lantern Jack and goblin Polly. Why weren’t they aware? Were they simply very tired or did those creatures do something to them? To me?

Seeing that the time wasn’t enough, Richard grabbed Polly and sprinted towards the trial grounds, holding both classmates. I followed closely behind, mustering all the strength I had. How could a teddy bear be so fast and strong?

Under Richard’s lead we made it in time. We entered a circular building with a single room full of chairs, each of which had a nameplate behind them. Richard had no problem finding his seat, it was branded “Richard Maine”. That seemed to be an issue. I looked around. I didn’t know, which was mine.

Maybe I would finally be able to remember my name? Most of my classmates had already found a seat. I approached the only unoccupied one. It was named “D”. I looked around, it didn’t seem like there was much of a choice. I sat down.

In front of my chair was an empty desk, though the same goes for my classmates. What’s the desk there for?

In a few moments all noise suddenly disappeared. Everyone was sitting with a serious expression, as if something important was going on. Which was problematic, as nothing was happening as far as I could see.

Even dragon Isabella, who was fidgeting all the time, sat immovably as if she turned into a statue. The only exception was sleepyhead Jace, who slouched in his chair, sleeping.

“What’s going on?” I whispered to Isabella since she sat next to me, but she only shook her head. A voice from the opposite direction appeared to save me, “Currently we are being explained how this trial works. In a nutshell, we talk for a while and then we’ll vote. The one chosen by majority will be exiled. That’s it.”

I looked at the voice’s owner. Clown Otto was sitting next to me, close enough for me to see his cold blue eyes, looking at me from behind the worn out smiling mask. I nodded, grateful for the explanation however brief it was. Unnerving silence continued for another minute or two after which everyone started to talk at once as if the dam was breached.

“Silence,” President’s unnaturally loud voice reverberated through the trial grounds. Perhaps he amplified the sound with that magic of his. “We won’t have a fruitful discussion if everyone will talk while interrupting each other. As the president I should begin...”

“There’s no need to discuss. I already found both impersonators. It’s Raphael and Otto,” headless Hugh pointed at the invisible student and the clown. The former didn’t react, staring dully at the ceiling, while the latter tilted his head slightly.

“Hugh immediately tackled the issue! Only a fool will get distracted and flunk the trial!” echoed the bodiless voice, full of admiration.

President harrumphed, “It’s but a blind guess. When our lives are on the line, we should try our best to concentrate on facts, on evidence however meager it is. Now that we mentioned the evidence, did anyone uncover something of value during their cave exploration?”

Silence reigned for some time, until it was interrupted by Hugh grating teeth, “Damned cave. It only gave me girls’ rooms. So I didn’t enter any until I was thrown out.”

I looked at angel Sophie. She was sitting, while looking at the distance, not paying any attention to the conversation as far as I could tell. Was the scene I saw in the cave really important? What happened to Sophie after all?

“Why do you say it’s clown and Raphael?” Rabbit Aurora piped in.

“It’s clear as the sky. Raphael was the one to control unicorn Vlad, probably waiting until he could turn everyone into a puppet, while the clown impersonating Otto was backing him up, with those cards of his. I was there, when Otto used a card to defeat a shade. And now, as I was told, Otto confirmed that he has cards. Right, Jedediah?” headless Hugh asked the flying shark.

“Indeed. But they are required for his curse. He simply didn’t want to reveal them before. I agree with Raphael being a traitor but the second one isn’t Otto. It’s the Nameless,” shark Jedediah pointed at me with his tail. “He didn’t come with us, instead appearing from the thin air. He was always late. And doesn’t it make sense for him being together with Raphael in this? One of them can’t be seen and the other one can’t be named…”

I was about to intervene, when bear Richard’s voice resounded through the trial grounds. He didn’t use any sort of amplification, he simply spoke in a calm, collected manner, yet his voice had a strange strength to it, “Nameless, as you called him, is our real classmate. For that much, I can vouch with my life on the line.”

“Ignore the distractions. Today we vote Raphael and the next time we vote clown Otto,” headless Hugh pressed on his claim. “Let’s immediately proceed to voting.”

President rustled his pages tiredly, “Does anyone have anything to add for today’s matter? It’s impossible to have a fruitful discussion when most people stay silent. Raphael what do you have to say for yourself?”

Invisible Raphael stayed silent. Seeing that, President gave up. In a moment the desk in front of me changed. On it appeared an image of each of my classmates present here.

“So, uhm, Pres, who do we vote for?” asked Isabella. Apparently she wasn’t following the conversation.

“Raphael,” President exhaled somberly. “I see no better candidate. If only he were to say something… Ahh, nevermind.”

An image of Hugh tapping on Raphael’s image appeared in my mind.

“Hugh Reinhart has chosen Raphael Spencer,” a familiar voice, the one I heard in the door of truth, rang in my head.

Next the image of Reina appeared. She quickly pressed the button, no emotion evident on her porcelain face. One by one images of my classmates appeared, followed by voice’s announcements.

Do I really vote for Raphael? Something seemed off. Why didn’t he even try to defend himself? Richard and others mentioned that traitors had both memory and the body in their possession. I remembered Sheep’s words. Hummingbird’s behavior changed drastically. So shouldn’t I be careful of someone who became their opposite? I glanced at sleepyhead Jace, dreaming peacefully. He was the one who changed the most, I warrant. Though, everyone changed and maybe the real traitor was carefully masking their nature. The most perplexing issue was what actually were those so called traitors. What kind of a lifeform were they originally? What was their gain in hiding among our numbers? When exactly did they take over my classmates?

“One minute until voting ends,” the voice reverberated in my head. I caught Richard looking at me, his expression serene. Perhaps, he noticed that I haven’t voted yet. But I just couldn’t bring myself to choose Raphael. I remembered the time I met him near the shore. He sounded sincere in his desire to be left alone. A change...

I felt a realization suddenly bloom in my head. How did I not think of it earlier? Perhaps, too many strange things had occurred and a lot was on my mind, that’s why.

Angel Sophie. I looked at the corner she was seated in. I initially felt compassionate to her and didn’t want to mention what I saw, but perhaps the door literally showed me the process of takeover? The look in her eyes resurfaced. How was Sophie replaced? There wasn’t anyone around when Sophie changed. So was the traitor’s initial form invisible or was I missing something?

“Everyone,” I gathered attention, talking fast enough to make it in time. “I ventured in the caves yesterday. There I came upon a door. It was,” I was watching Sophie intently at this moment, “door to Sophie’s past. I didn’t want to bring it earlier, as it seemed more of a private kind of information, but I just came to a realization. Traitors infiltrated our numbers, they aren’t our classmates – they are intrinsically different. There, at Sophie’s door I saw her change suddenly, her eyes losing her luster and her emotions changing drastically in a span of mere seconds.”

Sophie was looking at me, but no agitation appeared on her face. It was as if she didn’t seriously take me. As if I couldn’t change the outcome.

But no, not everyone voted yet. There still was a chance. I tapped Sophie’s button. Will we make it? “Don’t let trifles deceive you,” Hugh’s voice reverberated through the hall.

The voting time has ended. The results were out.