Skymint's POV

  My fur felt damp. Wet. I'm suspended beneath the lake, maybe among plenty more bodies. My eyes were closed. I'm afraid I'd see corpses around me if they were open. But it's also just as bad. I watched through the eyes of my doppelganger, embarrassing at every word, every action that he did. When he confessed, I felt like my pants had been stripped. I almost died.

  I have to lose all my dignity to do that to Arie. He's crossing her boundaries! I have to stop him, but I'm stuck here.

  And to my relief, Arie opened her eyes.

  "Let go," she said softly. "Please?"

  My doppelganger's grin twitched. "You sound different..."

  "Do I?"

  The recognition hit me like ice water. I'm not actually relieved.

  Her arms surged with strength Arie never possessed. She twisted one hand free and slammed her palm into his chest. A ripple of violent ice burst between them, and he stumbled back with a snarl.

  "Arie?" he barked.

  "No," she replied flatly. "Try again."

  He hesitated, my obnoxious mimicry flickering in confusion. "Who are you?"

  She stepped forward, brushing a leaf from his shoulder. "The one who's been watching."

  His face cracked. "So it's true. You are real."

  "More real than you ever were."

  He lunged, but she was faster. With a flick of her wrist, his legs froze, crystallized mid-step. He collapsed with a choked snarl.

  "Witch," he spat.

  "I prefer 'queen.'" She leaned in, staring into those fake eyes. "You almost broke her too soon. And I can't let that happen."

  He writhed, cracking the ice with brute force. "She'll know. Eventually."

  She tilted her head. "But hey," she said sweetly, "I can love you... unlike her."

  He blinked. I felt like blinking too while my eyes were already closed in the water. Why the heck am I blushing in this state? This is all wrong.

  She let the words hang in the air like mist, smiling like she meant them. A girl's smile. A wicked lie.

  His breath hitched, confused, aroused, curious.

  She stepped closer, let him see what he wanted to see. "You wanted her. But you awakened me. That's your real desire, isn't it?"

  His expression flickered, eyes dilating, lips parting. "I... I..."

  "Shh." She raised a finger to his lips. "Don't think. Just come with me."

  She turned and walked toward the lake, slow and deliberate. She didn't need to look back to know he was following. He trailed behind like a dog, enchanted, broken, blind. Is this how she sees me? Unlike this stupid doppelganger produced by the lake, I do things with good intent.

  The trees parted. The lake stretched out before them, a silver mirror under moonlight. The surface was so still it looked like a portal to another world.

  She stepped right to the edge.

  He paused behind her. "Is this where we...?"

  "Yes," she said.

  She turned back to him, smiled, and leaned in as if she were about to kiss him.

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  His fake heart probably skipped a beat.

  Then she shoved him.

  Hard.

  He gasped as he stumbled back, feet skidding across the moss-slicked bank, then plunged into the lake with a heavy splash.

  His cry broke the silence, but her sky-blue eyes were already imagining her spell. That's how a spell is triggered: not through chants or gestures, but through imagination and articulation.

  "Let's see how deep your desire runs," she whispered.

  "Sink deeper and never come back."

  Within those words, she twisted gravity itself. The lake, once still, writhed in protest. Waves churned, frothing like a beast awakening. A whirlpool bloomed beneath him, hungry, spiraling, unnatural.

  He thrashed beneath the surface, arms flailing, mouth opening in a silent scream, the illusion that made him resemble me starting to crack like melting glass.

  As my doppelganger sank, I heard a muted laugh from above. That curse mocking his stupidity. My stupidity. What I could have done if I never had impulse control.

  Now I could see what the lake could see. It was like looking through the water.

  A beat later, a voice slithered up from the lake itself, oily and wet, whispering. The one that painted me dirty.

  "Come here, Dreamer's Magic user."

  Ellie rolled her eyes and stepped closer, boots sinking slightly into the muddy bank. "Sure," she said carelessly, letting her tone drip with mockery. The water didn't stir. It pulsed, like it was breathing.

  Another ripple passed beneath her feet. Then the voice hissed again, sharper this time.

  "What?! How are you not sinking?"

  She smirked, one foot balanced lightly on the surface.

  "Because..." she tilted her head, letting the grin bloom wider. "I'm already corrupted."

  The lake was silent again, uncertain.

  She crossed her arms. "Bring back Skymint," she said, voice cold. "I need that bear-boy for my evil plans." Then, smiling cruelly, she added, "Or do you want to be part of it instead?"

  The lake didn't respond right away. At the same time, I got back to my senses.

  I felt my body rising up, the water pulling me upward. Like how I pulled out the iceberg from the Glacia Trench where Arie was frozen.

  The surface swirled like a vortex yawning open. I broke through with a violent gasp, lungs desperate for air. I thrashed, coughing and shuddering as if dragged from a nightmare, water clinging to me like a second skin.

  Ellie tilted her head and observed me, sputtering, soaked, blinking against the moonlight. My expression flickered through confusion, relief, then dread when I spotted her standing there, perfectly dry, perfectly composed.

  "Well, well," she purred. "Welcome back."

  "—Ellie," I breathed, barely audible.

  She grinned wider. "Missed me, bear-boy?"

  My brows pulled tight. "Where's Arie? What did you do?"

  She sauntered a few steps closer, just enough to let me hear the amusement in her voice. "Oh, she's... resting. Traumatically, I might add." She crouched at the edge of the bank, watching me struggle to pull myself up. "You should've seen her. Shivering against that tree. Trembling beneath your doppelganger's stare."

  My breath caught. I'd seen all of it. Telling her would just cause me more embarrassment. I even heard about her motive for saving me. She sees me as a tool. Everything is too much to process.

  She leaned forward, chin resting on her knuckles. "You know the funny part? He confessed his love for her." Her voice dropped into a mocking coo. "'Arie, I love you,' he said. 'Please love me back.'" She laughed, cold and lilting. "Isn't that adorable?"

  "I'm pleased," she went on, ignoring my glare. "Truly. Your twisted little twin told her everything she didn't want to hear. And she believed it, for a second."

  Despite everything, she offered her hand and I took it. She pulled me back up to the ground, and I thought she would push me because of the sinister gleam in her eyes. But she didn't. It confused me. I slumped at the slick, moss-slicked bank, staining my clothes brown.

  She stood, brushing her hands together. "How ironic, isn't it? Arie was trembling in fear under your face... and yet when it's you, the real you, bear-boy..." she leaned in. "You're the one who trembles around me."

  My fists clenched. I felt like submerging myself back in the lake so I wouldn't hear more of her monologues. Or so that I wouldn't hurt her with my fists, because Arie would be hurt too.

  She sneered. "None of this would've happened... if you'd been smarter."

  My jaw tightened. "You would have wanted it to happen anyway." She seems so. But I should have been wiser. It doesn't erase the fact that I got fooled by the lake.

  She offered a shrug, stretching her arms behind her head. "Maybe. Maybe not. But it did happen, and you're here now, dripping like a sad little bear."

  I lowered my eyes, water still streaming from my soaked fur, lips parted like I had more to say but didn't know how.

  "What about tomorrow?" I finally asked, voice low. "When she wakes up... what am I supposed to say to her?"

  She tilted her head, considering. "Oh, you mean about the way your evil twin pinned her down and confessed his undying devotion while she nearly had a breakdown? That tomorrow?"

  I flinched.

  She rolled her eyes. "Relax. I'm not going to cast any spell on her to forget it. That's not my style. Arie can keep her memories."

  "But it'll hurt her," I said, almost pleading.

  "Everything hurts her," she replied simply. "This is just one more shard of ice in the pile. She'll be fine."

  I looked away, claws digging into the wet earth. How am I going to explain it to her? Everything my doppelganger did?

  I realized that this is what it was like to have a twisted alter ego. Arie wouldn't want to know about Ellie. It's definitely a bad idea to reveal the curse, as she committed far worse acts than my doppelganger. After Arie told me about the trial, it just confirmed it to me. She has unknowingly killed General Dicester. And possibly more. But still, there's a lot that I don't know yet. And maybe I'm the only one who could prevent her from doing any more of that.