Chapter 43: The Wishing Fish 2.
Agatha looked at the others, can't believe it, but they all nodded like rams.
They didn't care that only a third of them were going to graduate as a princess.
Each one was absolutely convinced that she would be the chosen one.
No, those stuffed creatures hanging in the museum had not been students like them.
They were simply animals.
Slaves for a Greater Good.
Agatha didn't know what to think of this place.
First, the teacher loses a quarter of class between gossip with the squirrels.
When class finally begins, she tells them that they can't all be princesses, but that they will still serve as sacrificial animals.
And all the girls, except her, are happy with the deal.
After that, they all begin to make very happy wishes to some goldfish.
Agatha wondered what the souls could wish for these girls.
What will good souls desire? Agatha, wondered, as she watched as the fish of desires formed the figure.
Peace for their kingdoms?
Health for their families?
Defeat evil?
No.
Instead, the fish drew a boy's face.
— Tristan! — Kiko exclaimed when he recognized the boy's reddish hair.
Agatha growled.
He must have imagined it.
She still made a note in case, in the future, he can help a friend.
You never know.
Then it was Reena's turn; When she sank his finger, the fish changed colors and formed a mosaic of a burly gray-eyed boy by putting an arrow in his bow.
— It's Chaddick! —Reena said, blushing— Tower Honor, room ten.
Giselle's fish drew the dark Nicholas, Flavia's wish was Oliver, and Sahara's painted Oliver's roommate, Bastian…
At first, it seemed silly to Agatha, but now she was scared.
Was this what good souls longed for?
Guys, they didn't even know?
On what basis?
— Love at first sight—exclaimed Uma. — It's the most beautiful thing in the world!
Agatha felt gagging.
The fish were exhausted from drawing so many chiseled jaws.
But Beatrix put on the greatest spectacle when she had the fish of wishes draw their fairy tale marriage to Tedros.
In a spectacular rainbow, complete with a castle, wreaths, and fireworks.
All the students had tears in their eyes, either because the scene was beautiful or because they knew they could never compete with Beatrix.
Agatha takes note to ask Sophie if she should be loyal to her gender or warn the boy that the crazy woman liked her.
After half an hour of watching her classmates rave about boys at a level that left Sophie, in her worst moments, as a perfectly reasonable person.
Professor Uma was about to finish the class.
—Uh. Should I give them their grades? — said the teacher thoughtfully.
— But she still hasn't—Beatrix said, pointing to Agatha.
This surprised blink.
That Beatrix was worried that Agatha had not yet participated.
Maybe it wasn't so bad after all.
— So Reena can have her room when she fails. Beatrix smiled.
Agatha withdrew what she thought.
— Ah! Is there one left? Uma asked, looking at Agatha.
He watched the lake, empty of fish of desires, and then his prized pink suitcase.
— It's always the same for me—he lamented.
With a sigh, he released the suitcase into the lake and watched as it sank and floated back in the shape of a thousand white fish.
Agatha leaned over the water and saw the fish watching her fallen.
For a moment, they had found heaven in a suitcase.
But here they were again, like genies outside their lamp.
They cared little that their lives were at stake.
They just wished they would be left alone.
Agatha felt compassion.
My desire is easy, he thought.
I wish not to postpone.
He stuck his finger in the water.
The fish began to tremble like tulips in the wind.
Agatha could hear his desires debate in his mind… Do not postpone… At home in bed… Do not postpone… Sophie safe… Do not postpone… The fish turned blue, then yellow, then red.
The wishes became a cyclone… New face… Same face… Blonde hair… I hate blonde hair!… More friends… No friends…
— Not just confused—muttered Princess Uma. — Completely confusing!
The fish, red as blood, began to tremble as if they were about to explode.
Frightened, Agatha tried to stick out her finger, but the water clenched it like a fist.
— What a devil…!
The fish turned black as night and flew towards Agatha like magnets to metal, covering her hand in a shuddering mass. The girls fled the shore, horrified; Uma stood motionless in place.
Desperate, Agatha tried to tear her arm out of the water, but her head exploded in pain…
Home, School, Mom, Dad, Good, Bad, Boys, Girls, Ever, Never…
Tightly held by Agatha's hand, the fish trembled more and more, faster and faster, until they could not distinguish one from the other.
The fish let out thousands of tormented screams.
Agatha felt her head split in two…
Postpone, Winning, Truth, Lies, Lost, Found, Strong, Weak, Friend, Enemy…
The fish swelled like a balloon in a black mass and climbed up his hand.
Agatha shook to free her finger until she heard the bone break and howled desperately, while the squealing fish engulfed her entire arm in their ebony-colored cocoon.
— Help! — Somebody help me!
The cocoon inflated to his face and suffocated his screams.
With a horrible scream, the deadly belly swallowed her.
Agatha shook herself, so she could breathe, and tried to kick her out, but the pain pierced her head and forced her to crouch in the fetal position.
Hate love punish reward hunter hunted live die kill kiss take
Howling vengefully, the black cocoon absorbed her even more like a jelly-like grave, drowning her last breath, sucking the last drop of life until she had nothing left for…
Give.
The screaming stopped.
The cocoon fell apart.
Agatha fell, stunned.
In his arms was a girl, no more than twelve or thirteen years old, with brown skin and a tangle of dark curls.
She woke up, opened her eyes, and smiled at Agatha as if she were an old friend.
— A hundred years passed, and you were the first one who wanted to free me. — She breathed breathlessly, like a fish out of water, and rested his hand on Agatha's cheek. — Thank you.
She closed his eyes, and his body relaxed in Agatha's arms.
Inch by inch, the girl began to glow with a bright golden color, and with a burst of white light melted into rays of sunshine and disappeared.
Agatha gawked at the lake, empty of fish, and heard the faint beating of her heart.
She felt that his entrails had been beaten and torn out.
She raised his finger, cured like new.
— Ehh… was all that… NORMAL? — She took a deep breath and turned around.
The whole class was scattered behind the trees, including Princess Uma, whose expression answered the question.
Then everything went to hell.
Agatha watched as a stampede of desperate animals began to rush towards her.
The animals were frantic.
Their shrieks were louder and louder, even feverish…
They, too, wanted to be released.
Squirrels, rats, dogs, moles, deer, birds, cats, rabbits, the inept otter…
All the animals on the school grounds, all the animals that could slip between the doors, ran to their savior…
"Make us human!"— they demanded.
Agatha paled.
Since when could she understand animals?
"Save us, princess!" — they shouted.
Since when could she understand delusional animals?
— What do I do? — Agatha shouted.
Uma looked at the animals, their faithful puppets, their close friends…
— RUN AWAY!
For the first time, someone in this school gave Agatha practical advice.
He fled to the towers while magpies pecked his hands, mice hung from his boots, frogs jumped into his dress.
He ran up the hill as fast as he could.
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DEXTERITY
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He heard the system screaming in his mind.
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IF YOU RAISE YOUR POINTS IN DEXTERITY, YOU WILL INCREASE YOUR SPEED.
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"Put them all" – she cried desperately.