Two is Company (House of Anubis)

Chapter 103: The Staff of Osiris

After Eddie forced them to take a detour to the crypt to collect Joy's artifact, they made it back to the house in record time. The group piled into the attic, slamming the door behind them with a loud thump as though the half-rotted piece of wood could really protect them if it came down to it.

Thankfully, Victor still hadn't been in his office, because if he had, Kira wasn't unconvinced they wouldn't have had to beat his ass again to get by. She still couldn't believe she'd maimed him as badly as everyone was telling her, and she really didn't want to find out if he was still pissed about it.

"Come on, come on!" KT urged, practically tossing the artifacts at Eddie and Fabian who fumbled through putting them together. "It builds a staff, right?"

"Maybe?" Eddie wheezed, still out of breath from the dead sprint across campus. They really did that too much nowadays. "I think this piece goes here... and yeah, this one here."

"This is the base," Fabian reported, twisting on the artifact that Alfie had presumably given his soul for. Kira watched them twist it all together into one mega artifact with a ruby on top. "Wow," he breathed, looking at the freshly constructed staff. "Fascinating..."

"Yeah, it's great," Kira drawled, head already beginning to pound again. "But we don't even know what to do with it!"

"Can't we just figure it out on the way?" Eddie asked exasperatedly, making a beeline for the door.

KT stepped between him and the exit. "No, Eddie!" she exclaimed incredulously. "We have too much riding on this!"

Eddie rolled his eyes and tried to side-step her, but suddenly gasped, going deathly still. Everyone else froze too, unsure of what to make of him.

"Vision?" KT squeaked into the silence.

"Uh-huh," Fabian answered, bobbing his head up and down slowly.

"Do you think it's telling him what to do with it?" asked Kira, anxiously peering into her brother's slack, twitching face for signs of life.

Suddenly, he jerked back to consciousness with a gasp, making them all jump. "I know exactly what to do with it!" he informed them, beaming from ear to ear.

"Even better," Kira laughed breathlessly, finally allowing herself to feel even a shred of hope that this could end in any way other than total disaster. "Let's do this!"

"Kira, will you please just lay down?" begged Fabian. "You're going to give me a stroke running around like this."

For the love of all things good, were they really that worried about her minor concussion, when the world was about to implode on itself? She should be flattered by their concern, but, really, where were everyone's priorities? "For the last time, I'm fine!" she dragged out, lifting up the pill bottle and waggling it around.

Fabian's jaw dropped in horror. "Kira!" he exclaimed, a little too loud for her delicate sensibilities. "You can't take blood thinners with a concussion! Forget giving me a stroke, you're going to give yourself one! Literally."

"Oh." Kira looked down at the bottle in her hand, debating on taking them anyway for a moment. Then, she huffed and threw the pills onto KT's bed. "Fuck it, we ball." Before anyone else could protest her deciding to medically rawdog the Sibuna mission, she ducked under her girlfriend's arm and sped into the hallway. She had a father, a roommate, and best friend to help save, after all!

She made it down the stairs first, with KT and Eddie right behind her and Fabian bringing up the rear. Kira reached for the front door handle, but skidded to a halt when she saw the outline of a very familiar piece of shit approaching them through the frosted glass. "Denby!" she yelped, grabbing blindly behind her for Eddie to hide immediately. If Denby caught him standing there like a numbskull with the Staff in his hand, they'd might as well kiss their last hope goodbye. He seemed to get the message, because he practically dove for the coat closet, the artifact clutched in his hand like a jousting lance, and nearly knocked Kira and KT off their feet in the process.