“A green, b-b-bubbly end?” May shivered, back in their room. “Someone wants to boil us?”

May quickly pulled her sheets over her head. Mena walked over to the large shaking bedspread and patted her. “Relax May. We have no idea if that’s what they meant.”

Janus approached the two. She reclined with her robe pressed lightly against the bed. “Sounds like a death threat to me. We reapers are skilled at recognizing them.”

Even Mena gave a look of dismay, but Janus crossed her arms. “Fortunately, most people are too cowardly to carry them out.”

Mena stood up and approached Janus. She scratched her chin as she questioned her friend further. “Still, this is quite a curious conundrum. I was thinking, do you think this is the same person who sent us to the library?”

“If they did to th-threaten us,” May cried. “That’s a pretty mean prank.”

Mena pulled out the letters and observed them side by side. “Hmm,” Mena remarked. “Do you see what I see?”

Janus voice leapt an octave with realization. “The first one is posted from magazine clippings, but the death threat is written out.”

“Miraculous Magicaps,” Mena exclaimed “So there’s possibly two people involved in this mystery. But who could they possibly be?

Even the ever-certain Janus looked confused. May emerged from out of her blanket fortress to offer a similar quizzical look. As if it were Melina Penwell’s latest page turner, the plot had thickened.

Mena’s mind puzzled itself into the depths of the night, trying to imagine who’d want to kill them. Her mind drew a blank, and soon, after some much needed shut-eye, the icy dawn arrived.

In direct contrast to the unwanted threat, breakfast was uneventful. So was class with Apo Carrie. Carrie, being a figure the headmaster neither liked nor disliked, didn’t make him an easy target for Cumberson. After hearing the tiny professor drone on about the laxative properties of milk drained from purple cows, a lecture better suited for an old folks home, Mena was relieved when the bell rang.

“You know what’s strange?” Mena asked Janus, as her friend accompanied her to Caligari’s class. “Ms. Cumberson hasn’t mentioned Caligari yet. You’d think that she’d be concerned about the daughter of the Phantom Lord.”

Janus levitated her books with her mind as she talked. “Or the fact the headmaster and her are probably snogging.”

Mena’s eyebrows fluttered in realization.

“You know, Mena,” Janus continued, “I wouldn’t be surprised if Cumberson makes a guest appearance in your next class. After all, her dad may have had Gemini under his possession, but he’s got his daughter under a far more sinister possession: L-O-V-E.”

Mena’s arms sunk as they reached Caligari’s dark chamber. “Must you be the bearer of bad news?”

Janus’ gave a cheerful smile in response. “My father is the reaper, after all—the ultimate bearer of bad news.”

May joined Mena for her following class. May had a similar fearful expression on her face. As they waited in the chilling classroom, both girls knew Cumberson would burst in at any second. Soon, the half phantom’s bright green eyes appeared, followed by the rest of her body.

“In addition to fighting night creepers,” the half phantom professor began. “It’s important to know how to handle human opponents too.”

Caligari put her hand to her head. “The best way to do that is to discern their weakness through their dreams. I desperately hope that Stellaris is teaching you how to read dreams, because valuable information can be gleaned from them. You can often find out the weakness of your foe by reading their innermost subconscious.”

Mena watched her teacher closely. She seemed to be pretending like yesterday’s fiasco never happened. There was an odd creak, and Mena practically leapt out of her seat.

“Willow,” Caligari said with a sly smile, “You seem eager to give this a try, so how about you come up against me.”

“One second, professor,” Mena said, making sure the creak was merely a loose floorboard below her. “Ok, I’m ready.”

Mena walked to the center of the classroom. Caligari assumed an attack position. Mena seemed antsy, but her mind soon changed to the battle at hand. “Well, aren’t you going to figure out my weakness?” her teacher implored her.

It was time to put one semesters of Dream Divination to the test. Mena placed to her hand to her forehead and watched as a bubble, invisible to everyone else but her appeared over Caligari’s head.

The phantom professor was holding Gemini, cradling him almost like a baby in her lap and massaging his hair. Caligari’s low voice warm Gemini with affection too. “Tell me where that mean, vile witch hurt you.”

Gemini tearfully sobbed. “Right here,” and he held his heart.

Caligari placed her hand right where his was. “I’ll be the protector of your heart from now on.”

Mena giggled, and Caligari looked a bit nervous. “Uh…Willow.”

“Professor,” Mena said, playing coy. “I don’t believe I can tell you what your weakness is. Seems a bit personal.”

Caligari gave an affirmative head nod, biting her tongue. “Sit down, Willow. You can talk to me about it after class. Meanwhile, I want everyone else to get a partner and practice your combative dream reading.”

Mena spent the rest of the class, both greatly amused and paranoid that Cumberson would pay an unwanted visit. When the bell chimed, it was a great relief for her.

Mena approached Caligari once everyone had departed. The Phantom Teacher stood alone. Trepidation was on her face over what Mena saw.

Not facing Mena, she talked with the corner of her eye focused on her student. “What did you see as my weakness?”

Mena hesitated, unknowing if it would be best to tell the phantom professor of the content of her own dreams. At last, she said, “You wanted to be near Gemini in his time of trouble. Much like he was there for you.”

Caligari’s lip trembled, and her fist balled up. She turned to Mena. “That’s right. When that vile Cumberson slandered him so heavily, I wanted to take him on my knee and hold him until he felt better.”

A sly smile came over Mena’s face. “Oh-ho, so I see you want to be the one in control this time.”

Caligari’s cheeks flushed a streak of red. “Is that wrong? I’m so new to this.”

Mena walked over and placed a consoling hand on Caligari’s shoulder. “Some days, the woman’s gotta wear the pants in the relationship, and since you wear pants all the time, that makes it even easier.”

Caligari’s head turned back and forth, surveying the room for any onlookers. “So, what do I do?”

“I’ll shadow you again,” Mena replied. “But this time, we’ll be on the aggressive.” Caligari gave another tentative glance at Mena.

The student-turned-teacher replied, “This time, we’re gonna greet the Clown Prince of Dreams with some hot, Phantominatrix action.”