Two is Company (House of Anubis)

TOUCHSTONE OF RA (Part II) - The Earthquake & The Canopic Jar

As the American trio reached the base of the cellar stairs, leaving the rest of their housemates and guests behind in the dark, Eddie felt Nina's calculating eyes on the side of his head. "You know," she whispered while they ascended quietly, so only he could hear her, despite KT being only a step behind them, "Sibuna's really grown quite a bit. Kira, KT..."

Eddie couldn't help but wonder if she thought that was a good thing or not, and he knew that her opinion should probably inform his response. Be that as it may, he also wasn't sorry for the expansions... not anymore, at least. Gone were the days where secrecy kept people safer. They'd tried that, and it nearly resulted in the end of the world. Sure, not everyone had to know the play by play of all Sibuna's history- hell, he didn't even know the whole story, and at the rate his friends divulged information, he probably never would. But KT was a capable and worthy member of Sibuna beyond just her lineage, and despite any of his earlier misgivings about his twin's involvement in this aspect of his life, Kira had proved invaluable on multiple occasions. Besides, even Amber, the queen of gatekeeping, had given them all the green light, so frankly, Nina could stuff it- Chosen One or not.

"Yeah," he answered in a hush as they reached the foyer. "For the better."

Before Nina could reply, KT gestured with her flashlight down the corridor. "Dexter could have gone into one of the boys' rooms," she whispered. "We should check."

"Sounds good," Eddie agreed hastily, casting Nina a brief side-glance. She'd been nothing but pleasant to KT since she'd arrived, but her critical eye put him on edge. He knew Fabian had informed her ages ago of everything that had happened with Frobisher and Ammut, as well as all their new additions to the team- minus Mara, because that seemed like overkill at that point- but if Nina had thoughts on his friend's involvement with Anubis House's dark underbelly, he hoped they'd reflect that pleasantry.

"Right, I'll take Jerome and Alfie's," said KT, already making a beeline toward the room at the end of the hall. She seemed a little nervous, too, though whether it was from being in the Chosen One's presence, or from the power outage, Eddie wasn't sure.

When she was out of earshot, Nina turned her critical eye on him. "I was only trying to say I'm glad that you had help while I was gone," she said, as though she could read his mind. Maybe she could; Eddie still wasn't sure exactly how deep the Paragon-Osirian connection ran. "I know this stuff isn't possible to do on your own... I'm just sorry that anyone else had to be put in danger. That wasn't my intention." She started walking toward his room and threw the door open: no one was inside. "I guess what I'm trying to say is sorry."

"Sorry?" Eddie squinted at her through the shadows. "For what?"

"No sign of Dexter, Sophia, or Willow!" KT reported from the other room, her footsteps drawing nearer.

"For abandoning you guys when you needed me most," sighed Nina, and before Eddie could assure her that taking care of her sick grandmother was not abandoning them, KT poked her head into the room.

"Upstairs?" she prompted, eyes flitting between the two them nervously like they might explode any minute. Maybe she'd been dwelling on the legends too, about their proximity bringing misfortune.

"Yeah, must be," he replied, and took a single step toward his friend when the house suddenly began to tremor violently. "Whoa!" he exclaimed, stumbling directly into KT and sending them both careening into the wall.

Nina shrieked in surprise and tripped backward into Eddie's desk, the pens and knickknacks atop it skittering across the floor. The house continued to rumble for a few more seconds, then went still.

Eddie ushered the girls out of the room back into the foyer, all three completely shaken. "What the hell was that?" Nina gasped, rubbing the spot where her hip had caught the corner of the desk.