House of Anubis: Triad of Memphis

House of Thieves/House of Heroes

Jonah met with Sarah, William, and Niamh back at the school and once he was informed that Niamh was helping them temporarily, he informed them that he wasn't sure whether or whether not Lucille and Jared were safe. Once school let out, they were eager to return to Anubis house, but Mr. Owen stepped out of his office just as they were passing by.

"Walk," he instructed, "don't run."

"Yes, sir," Jonah muttered. As soon as they were out of the headmaster's sight, they picked up their pace again.

They found Jared and Lucille each in their own rooms and eventually had them all gathered in just Jared and Jonah's room to talk about their current situation. Jared and Lucille explained what happened at Mr. Harvey's place and their trust of Mr. Rainier. Jonah then brought out the Egyptian book for the ritual, Jared brought out the ankh for the staff, and William brought out the rest of the staff pieces.

"Are we going down to the tunnels tonight?" Jonah asked.

Niamh just sat there, listening intently.

"We could..." Sarah began. "But seeing as we could probably meet the world's impending doom, we might as well place the final staff down there when we have a diversion."

"A diversion?" both Jared and Lucille repeated.

"Ohh," William nodded slowly. "I don't get it."

"The Society is going to try to summon the gods themselves with Niamh," Sarah reminded. "It's the perfect time for us to complete the task and see what actually happens.

"Wait, why do they need me?" Niamh asked, not well informed on this issue.

"They think you're the Chosen One," Lucille admitted, "because of your birthday. The Chosen One is born on the same date as the number of the month. Though the Chosen One also has to be born at the same hour. They compared us, and since they didn't know what time either of us were born, they chose you."

"So now I have to pretend to be something that I have no idea about, and when I fail, then what?" Niamh asked. "They kill me?"

"We should time it close enough to the point where something happens anyway," Sarah explained.

"And if nothing does?"

"This might be a bad time," Jonah uttered as he reached into his bag and withdrew an item. "But I also took this from Rusk."

"A gun," William muttered.

"Jonah, you idiot! What if that went off in school?" Sarah gasped.

"I put the safety on," Jonah assured them. "And besides, it's probably better in our hands than Rusk's. And if Niamh is going to be alone in the cellar with six insane adults, excluding Mr. Rainer, she ought to be protected, yeah?"

"This is psychotic, even for me," Jared admitted.

Niamh took the gun anyway. "Just for safety."

~~~~~
Tyler and Rachel were together while the others were huddled away. Lately they had spent much of their time together as really close friends, paying no mind to any Sibuna, or Society, or supernatural matters happening in Anubis house.

They were in Rachel's room studying until Tyler closed his and Rachel's books.

"May I help you?" Rachel raised her eyebrows.

"Can I be entirely honest with you?"

"I'd much rather you not because I'm pretty sure I know where this is going," Rachel replied.

"Ouch."

"Yeah, well...I don't want to ruin what we have with any dumb relationship."

"Then promise me whatever I say won't ruin it," Tyler requested.

Rachel looked up into his eyes, but she hesitated.

"Promise me?"

Rachel nodded slowly.

"I like you Rachel," Tyler began. "And if I had the chance, I'd want to date you this very second. But I know what you want, and I'm very content with our friendship, and I'm not trying to make you uncomfortable or anything...I-I don't really know what I want to say, but it's so much-"

"-you don't have to," Rachel assured. "I think I know what you want to say. And...it'll all be okay. I can promise you that."

~~~~~
Mr. Rainier met with Mr. Carroway in his office that night. Once he closed the door behind himself, he turned to the caretaker and demanded, "We need to perform the ritual this weekend."

"Really? In such short notice?"

"There's no better time," Mr. Rainier persuaded. He knew Mr. Carroway trusted him to arrange when the ceremony should occur, so he hoped he wouldn't have to face too many interrogative questions.

"Well I'll have to let the others know...And how do we plan on luring the Chosen One down?"

"Leave that to me."

As he left the office, Lucille spotted him and posed a conveniently timed question of when the society planned to perform the ritual. He told her and was about to head off to his room, but she asked another question.

"Should I tell Sarah?"

"Tell her...?" Mr. Rainier turned back to Lucille slowly.

"That all this is basically because of her mother," Lucille revealed that she had known more about his past than he thought. "That she was in on your scheme, that you both arranged for you to start a new life here, that you're here to protect us. And why? Why did you choose to protect us?"

Mr. Rainier gave a slight smile. "You're sounding more like a Chosen One, honestly."

In fact, Lucille's demeanor had adjusted to a more confident manner, along with her tone and inflection - as opposed to her common fragility.

"And what does a Chosen One sound like exactly?"

"A hero."

~~~~~
And that is the chapter for you all. I hope you enjoyed it, and here are the discussion questions:

Do you think Jonah should've taken the gun?

Do you prefer Rachel and Tyler as a couple or friendship?

Until next time, Aristocrats!