House of Anubis: Triad of Memphis

House of Involvement/House of Trust

"Rusk is too dangerous; what were you guys thinking getting involved with him?" Niamh whispered frantically to Sarah and William.

"It just kind of happened," Sarah explained. "We rescued William from him, and we've done our research so we know what he's capable of."

"He kidnapped you?" Niamh looked straight into William's eyes, truly concerned.

"I'm fine," William assured. "But...Niamh we're involved in so much more than you understand."

"Then help me understand."

William and Sarah glanced over at eachother, William more so requesting that they enlighten Niamh on what Sibuna was.

"Well, it's a lot," Sarah began.

~~~~~
Jared crept down into the cellar just behind Rusk, and once they made it to the bottom of the stairs, he pushed past and practically dived straight toward Lucille. He took her in his embrace, and she did the same in return.

"I'm so happy to see you," Lucille expressed genuinely.

Jared also set eyes on the duffel bag which had to be the one Rusk had already stolen.

Jared stood back up to his feet, helping Lucille up with him, but she couldn't walk too far because her ankles were still in shackles.

"You can't take her with you," Rusk informed.

Jared felt a sudden surge of energy within himself and directed his hand toward Rusk which sent out an orb, knocking Rusk off his feet. Jared then acted quickly and knelt down to the shackles, following his innate compulsion. He set his hand on her shackles which emitted a glow and then caused them to disintegrate.

"Wow, that's dangerous," Jared muttered.

"Come on," Lucille demanded as she grabbed the duffel bag and Jared's wrist to pull him along.

Rusk grabbed at Lucille's ankle, but she forcefully kicked it away as they continued on. They heard Rusk rising up and following, but they were focused forward until they arrived to the front door. Jared glanced back realizing Rusk hadn't yet arrived at the top of the stairs yet due to the delay. Lucille opened the door quickly, but Mr. Rainier stood there. His eyes fell on them, but he was more intrigued with seeing Rusk, just as Rusk had made it up from the cellar.

"I thought I'd find you here," Mr. Rainier admitted, shoving his hands into his pockets. He excused himself in between Jared and Lucille and the two of them turned to watch what would happen from behind Mr. Rainier's body.

"We're so screwed," Jared whispered.

"No," Lucille shook her head and thought back to her vision. "Mr. Rainier is a good guy."

Mr. Rainier glanced back at Jared and Lucille with a grin. "Hurry back to the house. I'll deal with you two later."

Jared and Lucille took off as he said. Rusk feigned trying to follow them, but Mr. Rainier raised his hand to stop him.

"It's clear you're injured at the moment," Mr. Rainier perceived. "And it's even more clear now that Mr. Harvey is your little wolf in sheep's clothing."

"I'm not done with you. Not any of you. Even those children."

"Oh, I know," Mr. Rainier nodded. "I actually dare you try and kidnap one of my children again. Because I will very well kill you myself if you cross that line again."

Rusk chuckled. "You and I, we're just alike."

"No...I'm way more deceptive."

With that, Mr. Rainier turned away to leave.

~~~~~
Jared and Lucille were on their way back to Anubis house when they stopped for a bit to take the remaining staff pieces they needed from the duffel bag and stuffed them in Jared's own bag.

"So what do we do with this?" Lucille asked, gesturing toward the duffel bag with the remaining artifacts.

"We'll just stick it back in the cellar when we get to the house."

They did so and also checked around for Jonah but figured he had gone off to school with the book hidden in his bag. The two of them waited in the living room for Mr. Rainier to return and "deal" with them.

When he finally arrived, he sat on the couch opposite of them.

"You're the real Chosen One?" Mr. Rainier stated more as a declaration than a question.

Lucille nodded slowly.

"I'll let you two in on a little secret," Mr. Rainier whispered and leaned in, in case Mr. Carroway was in the house. "The Society still thinks the Chosen One is Niamh. So...I'll let them believe that all the way up to the ceremony."

"But the staff pieces," Lucille began, glancing between him and Jared, "we-well we've been constructing them in the tunnels. How will the ceremony even happen?"

"I'll convince them of something." Mr. Rainier rose to his feet. "After all, I'm the only one who knows what the Chosen One really has to construct. And there's a reason I have extra artifacts."

~~~~~
"And that's Sibuna," Sarah concluded as Niamh tossed her head back onto the couch for just a brief moment.

"O...kay...." Niamh replied.

"So...when do you want to be inducted?" William asked.

"I...I don't really want to join."

Both Sarah and William raised their eyebrows.

"Clubs aren't really my thing," Niamh admitted. "I'm more of a partnership kind of person."

William nodded his head to the side.

"Even if it is my partner's second-most priority."

"No, you're totally first," William corrected quickly. Sarah slapped him on the arm. "I mean, I mean...but Sibuna is a close second."

"But I will help you," Niamh told them, reverting back to the original discussion. "For now, that is."

"Temporary Sibuna," William smiled.

~~~~~
Well that's the chapter for you all. So far, so good, and I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Here are the discussion questions:

Do you think Rusk will come after them again?

Do you think Mr. Rainier can continue to deceive the Society?

And that is all. Until next time, Aristocrats.