House of Anubis: Triad of Memphis

House of Cellars/House of Following

"So," Rachel began, catching up with Niamh as they walked back to Anubis house at the end of the school day, "what was all that about? The whole-Mr. Rainier reporting you and...What did you do?"

"I say we put this behind us and forget about it," Niamh evaded the question.

Rachel nodded and left it there. "Well, I'll see you around."

Meanwhile, Jared, Jonah, Lucille, and Sarah were walking in a herd together. Lucille started off conversation by saying, "I think we were caught off by the fact that Niamh and William were facing expulsion, that we forgot to go back down to the cellar over the weekend. I say we take a trip down there tonight."

"Are you sure we'll have time?" Jonah asked.

"I think it's worth a shot," Jared shrugged, agreeing with Lucille.

"Alright," Sarah tagged along. "But not for too long."

The others agreed. Once they made it to the house, Tyler was entering just after and stopped them all. "I overheard something about the cellar...What's so interesting about it?"

The four glanced at him and then at eachother, reluctant to tell him anything. Mr. Rainier showed up at the top of the stairs and they all directed their attention towards him and interrupted Tyler's confrontation. Sine Mr. Rainier had been the one to set Niamh and William up for expulsion, the students didn't know how to feel about him, even if he had vouched to let them stay in the end.

Without word, he descended the staircase and disappeared off into the kitchen.

The four Sibuna members turned to Tyler who gave them a final look and walked off. They heaved sighs and rushed to their own rooms.

~~~~~
William had come into the kitchen area while Mr. Rainier was in there to cook. He reconsidered entering, but he stayed over at the bar anyway and watched Mr. Rainier.

"We didn't mean to pry," William admitted as an attempt towards apology.

"What will you do surrounded by teenagers," Mr. Rainier chuckled to make light of it. "They're always so curious."

William shrugged. "But there was this one thing...In your bag, one of the relics was an ankh, wasn't it?"

Mr. Rainier froze in place and slowly went back to chopping the vegetables.

William continued. "My dad would sketch out things sometimes...I recognized the ankh. You see, he attended here before. He stayed in this very house. As did my mother. And this is where they found out about all the Egyptian things they know."

"Are you really so quick to tell me so much about them?"

"Just thought I'd tell someone," William muttered. He hesitated a bit and then got to what he intended to say. "I've been here before. Wh-when I was young-really young, my parents and their friends came back here for something, and I don't remember much about it, but they'd always say words like Sibuna, and evil, and dreams...I think...I can't tell you much about it all actually, but I was hoping that because you know so much, you could tell me some things. Not about yourself, but maybe, I don't know, this house?"

Mr. Rainier placed down his knife and looked up at William. "How much do you know about Egyptian mythology?"

"Not much."

"Well...after dinner tonight, come see me, and we'll start there."

William grinned and nodded.

~~~~~
William eventually left and sped up to Niamh's room where there was no sign of Rachel, and Niamh sat on her bed twirling her fingers and suppressed in deep thought. William slammed the door and jolted her into reality.

"Niamh, I'm going to get answers tonight!" William cheered in an ecstatic whisper.

"What?"

"Mr. Rainier is going to tell me things about the house."

"You're still on board with this?"

"Well...yeah. You're not?"

"No, no, of course I am," Niamh told him as he came and sat on the edge of her bed. "I just thought that since we almost got expelled, you'd quit on me."

"No way!" William laughed. "I'm as much into this as you are."

"Don't laugh at me."

"I'm not laughing at you," William shook his head with a smile on his face.

Niamh nodded and fell silent. William noticed her go back to twirling her fingers.

"I-I really wasn't laughing at you," he informed, expressing concern.

"No, it's not that," Niamh assured.

William expected her to go on, but when she didn't, he continued, himself. "What is it then?"

Niamh shook her head and lied, "Nothing."

~~~~~
"I'm telling you, something's up with those four," Tyler confessed to Rachel in his room. "Sneaking to the cellar...Perhaps Jared's riddle was for them all too."

"Okay Tyler, you can lay off all the mystery books and TV shows," Rachel told him. She watched as he paced around while she sat on his bed. "I highly doubt they're up to anything out of the norm."

"Shall we go see then?"

"You can go see," Rachel shrugged. "Meanwhile, I'll be finishing off homework like what I thought you invited me down here for."

Tyler let out a sigh and exited the room and was about to come out in the foyer until he heard voices. He waited at the corner where he couldn't be seen and heard the familiar voices along with four pairs of footsteps heading to the cellar door. The door creaked open and then closed as the voices faded away. He came from around the corner and faced the cellar door.

He glanced around, opened the door, then shut the door, heading down right after the others.

~~~~~
Here is another chapter for you all! I hope you really enjoyed it and for now, here are the discussion questions.

What do you think Mr. Rainier will tell William?

Will Tyler discover what Sibuna is up to?

Until next time, Aristocrats!